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upon the Treacherous Indian. 


He Rushed 








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COPYRIGHT, I904 
BY 

THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY. 


TO REPLACE LOS* G QPT 

MAO 9 ^! 195^ 


This Book 

is Lovingly Dedicated 
to 

My Little Godson. 
Jack Hanson Michener. 


• I 



CONTENTS 


Night Grows Tired of the Farm 7 

Westward Ho! 14 

The Collision » ai 

Billy Jr. Gets a Taste of the West 30 

Billy Jr. as Leader of the Sheep 37 

A Fight with Wolves . 43 

Billy Learns Something About Cowboys and Indians . . 50 

Billy Jr. and the Firemen 62 

Billy, the Christmas Tree, and the Irishwoman. . . . 71 

Billy Jr. Has Some New Experiences 79 

Billy Jr. and Stubby .-89 

Small Adventures 96 

The Midnight Fire 103 

The Bull-Fight no 

The Escape 115 

The Volcano 123 

An Unexpected Trip 134 



Illustrations 


PAGE 

He Rushed upon the Treacherous Indian Frontispiece 

There Was a Terrific Explosion and They Felt Themselves 

Being Hurled Through Space 20 

He Felt Himself Pinioned on a Pair of Long Sharp Horns . 40 

The Man Made a Grab for the Greased Pole and Down He 

Went 60 

Billy Gave One Leap Which Carried Him Ahead of the Dog . 80 

In the Very Center Stood Little Duke 100 


flight Grows Tired 

& of the Farm. 


N 


IlGHT had not been home more than three weeks when he 
commenced to get restless and tired of the quiet life on the 
farm. It was such a change from the adventurous, exciting 
life he had been leading that he did not know what to do 
with himself. This going to bed with the chickens and getting up 
with the sun, with nothing to do all day long but graze in the pasture 
or sleep in the shade, did not suit him; so he whispered to Day one 
day: 


“This life is driving me mad. I am going away the first chance 
I get. I have it all planned. Come over here by the stream and I 
will tell you all about it.” 

“Oh, Night, don’t go away and leave us! It will be so lonely 
without you. Why! I think it is perfectly lovely here; it is so clean 
and quiet, and then we know we are not going to be hurt or starved 
one day and petted and stuffed the next, like we were when traveling.” 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


“I know, dear, but you are a girl and like the quiet, while I am a 
boy and like adventures. Why! I like to get into scrapes just for the 
fun of getting out of them. Besides, there is another reason why you 
like it here. You need not think I have not noticed how that hand- 
some goat with the long hair and curved horns almost as long as my 
own, makes sheep’s eyes at you, for I have. And so, Miss Day, you 
are in love. I see you are blushing, for the inside of your ear is as 
red as blood, and that is a sure sign a goat is in love. Well, how do 
you like it? It is nicer than you thought when you took me away 
from Spotty, isn’t it?” 

“Oh,. Night! do forgive me. I never would have done it if I 
had thought you felt as I do now. But I did not know then ; and I 
wanted you all to myself. I know I was selfish and jealous, but do 
forgive me, won’t you?” 

“Yes, dear little sister, I will forgive you because I did not care 
so very much for Spotty. If I had, you could not have kept me from 
her. I would have found my way back to Madeira, if I had spent 
the rest of my life looking for it. But you see, don’t you? that now 
you will be happy and contented; father and mother don’t need me 
now that they have you, so I am going out to see some more of the 
world and try to find another goat as nice as you are to marry. If I 

( 8 ) 


Night Grows Tired of the Farm. 


do, I will bring her oack here and we will always live happily forever 
afterward, as they say in the story books.” 

“But when and where are you going, Night? Do tell me. And 
you will surely wait until I am married, won’t you?” 

“I am going West. I have heard all about the wonderful prai- 
ries, plains, and mountains out there, where there are hundreds of 
thousands of sheep, and how each flock has a large goat for a leader. 
Now it is my ambition to be one of those leaders.” 

“How in the world will you get there? It is thousands upon 
thousands of miles from here, and you can’t walk all the way.” 

“No, my dear, I know I can’t walk it, but I can walk part of the 
way and steal rides occasionally, like the tramps do. I will get there 
somehow, for I never failed to do anything which I made up my mind 
to do if I stuck to it long enough. I can just see those immense moun- 
tains lying so still and solemn, cut by innumerable bridle paths and 
canons, where the sheep seek shelter from the driving storms, pro- 
tected from the wolves that sneak down to devour them by their big 
billy-goat leader. He gives the signal of danger and with the shep- 
herd drives off the hungry wolves.” 

“For mercy sakes! don’t talk of going where there are wolves, 
for they will tear you to pieces and I shan’t close my eyes until you 
get back, I shall be so worried,” said Day. 

(9) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


“Don’t fear for me, sister mine. No old wolf will get the better 
of me while I have two such long, sharp horns on my head as I now 
have. Why, a wolf is nothing more than a wild dog, and you know 
how 1 treat ugly, cross dogs.” 

“I don’t believe father will let you go,” said Day as a last resort 
to discourage his going. 

“Oh, yes, he will. He was young once and liked adventures as 
well as I do now; and mother won’t mind after a few days, because 
she has you.” 

“Won’t mind, Well, I guess she will. Forty me’s can’t take the 
place of you in her mind ; she is so proud of your strength and beauty. 
You needn’t get conceited, but you know you are very handsome with 
your silky black coat and long beard, almost as long as papa’s. Every 
young nanny in the pasture has been making eyes at you since you 
came back. Why can’t you fall in love with my chum, Belle? I am 
sure she is pretty enough for any goat to fall in love with. And then 
you could live here and not go away and leave us all again. I feel it 
in my bones if you go you will never come back again. Do try to 
live here, Night, won’t you?” 

“I would do anything for you, Day, that I could, but I couldn’t 
and wouldn’t fall in love with that long-nosed, sheepish-looking Belle 
with washed-out blue eyes, even to please you.” 


Night Grows Tired of the Farm . 


“Oh, Night, she hasn’t washed-out eyes and she is considered a 
beauty.” 

“Well, I don’t admire your taste. Whoever wants her can have 
her, for all of me. Here comes mother and we must stop talking, for 
I don’t want her to know I am going away until my plans are com- 
plete.” 

Night had grown so much like Billy since he had been away that 
he was no longer called Night but “Billy Whiskers Jr.” 

Billy Jr. had taken to spending all his time by the fence that ran 
along the roadside, and he was getting thin from watching so much 
and eating so little. When his mother noticed this, she said : 

“My dear son, why do you spend so much of your time down by 
the road where the grass is dusty and scarce instead of here by the 
stream where it is clean and fresh?” 

“Oh, I don’t mind the dust,” he answered. “I stay there so that 
I can talk to the horses, cows, and sheep that pass by.” 

“But you are getting thin, and your coat is dirty and shabby from 
want of care. And you act as if there was something on your mind. 
Can’t you tell your mother what it is that is worrying you?” 

At this Billy Jr. broke down and told her all his plans; how he 
was longing to get away and go West; but he could find no one who 
could tell him how to get there. All the animals that passed along 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


had been bom and raised in the East and knew no more of the West 
than he did. Nannie answered: 

“You are just like your father was at your age. I have been 
afraid for a long while that you were dissatisfied here; and though 
it will nearly break my heart to have you go, still I will not forbid 
your doing so.” 

So Billy Jr. kept up his 
watch by the fence and at 
last was rewarded by hear- 
ing this news : A loose colt 
from one of the neighbors 
told him that a gentleman 
from away out West was 
visiting at their place and 
that he had brought his 
horse with him. This 
horse told them all about 
the big West every even- 
ing when they were all shut in their stalls; and he, for his part, was 
crazy to go. 

“That is just what I am crazy to hear about for I want to go 
there myself. Can’t you kick the stable door down to-night 



Night Grows Tired of the Farm . 


so I can get in and hear what he says?” said Billy Jr. 

“Certainly I can, for my stall is the outside one, and I will do it 
when I hear you bah outside.” 

“Thank you very much,” said Billy Jr. “I will be there as soon 
as the hired man has left the barn, so he won’t see me and drive me 
back.” 

And for the first time in many days Billy Jr. ate a good dinner 
and rolled and rolled in the clean sand to shine up his much neglected 
coat, which, when he had finished, shone again like satin. As even- 
ing drew on he was all impatience for it to get pitchy dark and for 
every one to go to bed, so he could be off. At last he thought it was 
dark enough for him to try it, especially as his coat was so black it 
was not easily detected. 

He jumped the fence where he and Day had jumped it when 
they had returned from their travels and, turning down the road, he 
was soon on his way to the neighbor’s to hear what the horse had to 
say about the West. 


Westward Ho! 



|lLLY JR. soon found himself at the neighbor’s, bleating for 
the colt to kick down the door. This was done with two 
kicks and Billy Jr. walked in and was introduced to the 
horse from the West. 

“I am glad to make your acquaintance,” said the horse. “I hear 
you are thinking of going West and would like to know something 
about it and how to get there. I also heard that you thought of 
walking and trusting to stealing rides on the cars if you could not get 
there in any other way. Now I hate to discourage you but, strong 
and brave as you are, you could not do it. You might get as far as 
the Great Plains, but these you could never cross. You would die 
of hunger and thirst if not with lonesomeness long before you had got 
a quarter of the way. Imagine yourself on a vast prairie without a 
hill or a tree in sight; the ground as level as if rolled out with a 
rolling-pin and covered with sage brush and short buffalo grass, 




Westward Ho! 


coarse as straw and dry as chips; not a living thing in sight but a 
jack-rabbit or two and a buzzard flying overhead waiting for your 
dead body. This buzzard has been following you for he knows from 
experience that it won’t be many days before you are stark and cold 
in death, either from hunger or thirst. Or, if the worst should come 
to the worst, you might be torn to pieces by a pack of prairie wolves 
as hungry as yourself. 

“Sometimes cattle stray from the flock and try to cross the plains 
alone and get as far as Dead Lake — a lake of alkali water that lies 
in the desert. This water is as clear as crystal and looks so tempting 
to the poor thirsty cattle that they often drink it, though all around 
its margin are the bleached bones of other cattle that have drunk of 
its poisoned waters and died. One can’t blame them for drinking, 
for it looks so cool and refreshing to them as it lies there clear and 
tempting, rippled by the breezes that blow over it. Oh, no! Mr. 
Billy, better wait and content yourself here or get shipped through 
in a car as I was.” 

All this gave Billy Jr. some things to think about and he went 
home feeling blue and depressed and almost ready to give up his 
cherished plans. But next morning he awoke with the same burning 
desire to go, and he made up his mind that faint heart never got any- 
where nor did anything, and he decided he would start anyway and 

( 15 ) 


2 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 



follow the sun in its direct course west day after day and see where 
it would bring him. If it did not lead him where he wanted to go, 
it would at least give him adventures, hardships, and pleasures, and 
they in themselves were worth going after. 

About 1 1 o’clock in the morning, while he was telling Day that 
his mind was made up to start the next day at sunrise, he looked up 

and saw the horse from 
the West turn into their 
lane with a fine-looking 
gentleman on his back. 
He ran over to the fence 
to see if he could not get 
a word or two with the 
horse. When pretty near 
to him, the gentleman 
stopped his horse and 
Billy Jr. heard him say: 

“My soul! but that is 
a fine-looking goat. I 
would give a hundred dollars to have him West to lead my flocks.” 

“Bah, bah,” bleated Billy Jr., which meant, “You can have me 
for ten cents.” As the gentleman rode on, Billy Jr. said to himself, 


Westward Hoi 


“Oh, why can’t people understand us as we can them? for then I 
could plead with him to take me West I” And he walked off and 
butted an inoffensive goat in his anger and tried to pick a quarrel 
with him. But the goat knew Billy Jr.’s reputation too well and 
refused to fight. 

Right after dinner Billy Jr. saw Mr. Windlass and the gentle- 
man who had ridden into the lane that morning coming into the 
pasture. He did not go to meet them because he felt cross and dis- 
agreeable, so he stood staring at them, chewing grass like an old man 
chews tobacco. However, they came straight up to where he stood, 
and he heard Mr. Windlass tell the gentleman how he and the white 
goat over there (pointing to Day) had come to him one morning 
and he had never been able to learn to whom they belonged or where 
they came from, though he had advertised in all the papers. 

“I had a black and a white kid a couple of years ago, but it is 
not likely they could be the same ones grown up and come back,” 

“I don’t know,” answered the gentleman, “goats are queer crea- 
tures. Mr. Windlass, what will you take for him? I have bcca 
looking for a big jet-black billy-goat to lead my flocks for a long time-. 
The wolves are getting pretty bad out West on the range and a goat 
mak«s a good leader. I want a black one, as his color would distil 
guish him from the white sheep immediately. Besides, your goat 


Billy Whiskers Jr . 


has other points in his favor; he is strong, large, a good fighter you 
say, and has long, sharp-pointed horns. Name your price and I will 
take him and have him shipped West in the same car with my horse 
when I go. I will charter a car and put feed in one end of it and 
have the other partitioned off into two stalls into which I will put the 
goat and horse.” 

Billy Jr. failed to hear what Mr. Windlass asked for him, but 
he heard the gentleman say: 

“It is a bargain and I will send my man for him to-night, for I 
expect to leave very early in the morning for Boston to catch the 
westbound train.” 

“Hurrah! Hurrah! Papa Billy and Mamma Nanny, come here 
and hear what glorious news I have for you. I am going West to- 
morrow!” 

Nanny nearly fainted when she heard the news, it was so sudden, 
and even staunch old Billy Whiskers shed a tear when he thought 
of his gallant young son leaving them, perhaps forever. While for 
Day, she just rolled over on the ground and cried, but was soon com- 
forted by a handsome young goat only a few months older than 
herself. 

True to his word, Mr. Wilder, the Western gentleman, sent his 
man for Billy Jr. just before dark; and when the goats saw him come 

(18) 


Westward Ho! 


through the gate preparatory to leading Billy Jr. off, they all gath- 
ered round to say a last farewell, and old Billy, Nanny, and Day all 
followed him to the gate and watched him with streaming eyes 
through the palings until he was out of sight. The man led Billy Jr. 
to the depot, and there he was put into a freight-car with the West- 
erner’s pet horse, Star. 

“Hello, Mr. Billy Jr.! Glad I am to have you as a companion. 
You did not expect to have such good luck as this when last I saw 
you. You will find this beats walking all to pieces.” 

“It certainly does,” answered Billy Jr. “This piece of luck is 
beyond my greatest expectations.” 

Just then the train gave a jerk forward and stopped suddenly, 
which sent Billy Jr. off his feet, it was so unexpected, and bumped 
Star’s nose against the end of the car. 

“Well, I never!” said Billy Jr. “This is worse than the rocking 
of a vessel for knocking one around.” 

“Yes, and the worst of it is you can never tell when it is coming. 
If one only could, he might brace himself for it and not get hurt,” 
said Star. “I hear you have traveled a good deal by water and that 
you were once shipwrecked,” said he. “Won’t you tell me something 
of your adventures?” 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


“Some day I will, but now I want to ask you questions about the 
West.” 

After a half-hour’s backing, switching, and jerking, the train at 
last moved out of the yards and started on its way for the West, with 
a bumpity, bump, bump and a clankity, clank, clank. Once out of 
the city, it wound itself in and out among the hills and across country 
like a huge, brown snake. 

In this way they traveled for a couple of days. They enjoyed 
the scenery of the Horse Shoe Bend in the Allegheny Mountains, 
which they crossed ; and they both speculated on what would become 
of them if the train rolled from the track in rounding the curve and 
landed them at the foot of the mountain thousands of feet below. 
Through the slats of the car that had been left open they could see 
the country through which they passed, and they stood and looked 
until cinders got in their eyes and they grew too tired to stand still. 



There Was a Terrific Explosion and They Felt Themselves being Hurled 

through Space. ' 






ren VERYTHING went well until about midnight of the fourth 
day out, when Billy Jr. and his companion were awakened 
by a terrific crash, a bumpity-bump-bump, and the door of 
the car broke from its hinges and fell to the ground. At 
the same time there was a noise as if an avalanche of snow were 
scraping and rattling on the top of the car. 

“What do you suppose has happened?” said Billy Jr. 

“I think either we have run into some other train or it has run 
into us,” answered Star. 

And the latter is what it proved to be. The freight was behind 
time and an excursion train had tried to make the next station before 
the freight started out. The consequence was that the excursion 
train, running at a high rate of speed, did not notice the freight, 
which was behind a deep bend in the road, until it was too late, and 
crashed into it. Both engines were thrown off the track and two or 
three cars of the excursion train were smashed to splinters, while one 
was suspended in mid-air over a deep precipice of the mountain and 
the only thing that kept it from going over was the coupling between 
it and the other car. 

For a second after the crash everything was still; then the cries 
of women and children were heard above the noise of escaping steam 

( 21 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


and crackling wood, as fire spread from one car to another and added 
its horror to the already disastrous wreck. 

“Billy Jr., I smell smoke,” said Star. “You are not tied while I 
am. Can’t you jump out and see where it comes from; for if the 
train is on fire, what will become of me? I am tied up so tight I can’t 
possibly get loose.” 

“Try to pull back and break your strap,” said Billy Jr. 

Star tried, but it would not break. 

“I’ll tell you how; rub your head against the side of the car and 
try to slip your bridle over your ears,” suggested Billy. 

Star did this and the bridle dropped off. But he was no better 
off than before, for he found himself boarded in his stall away from 
the open door. 

“I’ll tell you how you can fix that,” said Billy Jr. “You kick 
with all your might and throw your body against the boards and I 
am sure they will give way, for they are nailed on loosely from this 
side. While you do that, I will jump out and see what is the matter 
and if there is any danger of the fire reaching our car.” 

So while Star threw his weight against the boards and kicked 
for dear life, Billy ran forward to see how bad the wreck was. 

He came upon a sight weird and appalling to the last degree. 
The night was inky black, while the flames, as they licked up car 


r 


The Collision . 



after car, lit up the landscape with a red glare like some scene at the 

theatre; while for a 
background stood the 
tall, black mountains 
silent and still, like sen- 
tinels around a bivouac 
fire. Running hither 
and thither were men 
and women trying to 
save their companions 
from the burning train, 
and many acts of hero- 
ism were performed, 
while lives were brave- 
ly risked to save friend 
or stranger wedged in 
between the broken 
seats of the smoking 
mass. 

Billy waited only to take one look and then he ran back to tell 
Star that he must get out as soon as possible, as the flames were 


spreading fast in his direction. 


Biliy Whiskers Jr. 


While Star was kicking at his partition with vehemence and 
Billy was trying to help butt him loose, there was a terrific explosion 
and they felt themselves being hurled through space. The car ahead 
of them had contained some gasoline and when the fire reached it, it 
had exploded, blowing up the car and the one next to it. 

But, strange as it may seem, neither Star nor Billy Jr. were hurt 
seriously. Star got a sprained shoulder and Billy a skinned leg, that 
was all. 

The wreck delayed them thirty-six hours, and while they were 
waiting for the wrecking train to come to their assistance, clear the 
track, and put the engines on again, Billy Jr. and Star had a fine time 
roaming around the mountains and rummaging among the debris; 
or rather, Billy Jr. did while Star stood off and watched. 

Billy Jr. would nose around among all the broken boxes, pack- 
ages, trunks, etc., until he smelt some one’s luncheon ; then he would 
eat it up, pasteboard box and all, if he could not get the lid off. At 
last he came to the remains of the dining-car, and amongst the wreck- 
age he found some fine apples and pears. He called to his friend, 
but Star felt too timid to come at first until Billy persisted, but after 
awhile he picked his way to where the apples were, half covered by 
the broken pieces of the car. 

While feasting on these the horse felt a hand laid on his mane, 


The Collision. 


and on looking around to see who it was he heard Pete, the man who 
had been sent to take care of them, say: 

“By all that is merciful, how did you and Billy escape from 
being blowed to smithereens? I thought ye’s were both flying around 
the dog star by now. But it’s mighty glad I am to find ye’s both 
alive, for me master’s very fond of ye’s both and I wouldn’t ’a’ had 
anything happen to ye’s for worlds while ye’s was in my care.” 

Pete led Star off and, finding a piece of rope, tied him to a tree 
to wait until another train was sent to carry them on, while he sat 
down and commenced to smoke, too lazy to help clear away the 
wreckage. He let Billy roam at will, tor he knew he would not go 
far from the horse, they were such good friends. 

Presently they heard the puffing and blowing of a train coming 
up the grade to pick them up and carry them along on their journey. 
When Pete heard it he said: 

“It’s mighty glad I am to hear that, for I am as hungry as a bear, 
not being able to ate tin cans and raw pertaters like you, Mr. Billy 
Jr., and grass and herbs like you, Mr. Star/’ 

The train presently reached them, and by the help of many 
hands, everything was soon packed on board and they were off for 
West once more. 

They did not have any more mishaps and reached Chicago one 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


raw, windy morning. As their train pulled into the yard, where it 
was to lie until their car was switched on to the Santa Fe train that 
was to carry Billy Jr. to the far West, he remarked: 

“So this dirty, flat-looking city is Chicago, the far-famed first 
World’s Fair city! Well, I don’t thinkmuchofitfromwhatlhaveseen.” 

“Oh, but you shouldn’t judge any city by what you see of it from 
a train, for remember, the tracks always run through the worst parts 
of the city. You should see this city’s boulevards and parks. They 
would make you change your mind, for they are among the finest in 
the world. I saw them on my way East, for Mr. Wilder stopped 
here a week and during that time kept me at a livery stable and every 
day he took a horseback ride. In that way I saw all of the city, its 
handsome residences, business districts, parks, and boulevards; and 
I can tell you there are none finer, not even in your beloved Boston.’’ 

“Don’t you think I could manage to run away and see it all?” 
asked Billy. 

“Not unless you wish to give up your trip West, for if you once 
left this car you could never find your way back among all those 
hundreds of others in the yard here that look just like it.” 

“I could easily find my way back if that was all,” said Billy Jr., 
“but the thing I am afraid of is that they might start West and leave 
me, or switch you off to another yard where I could not find you.” 


The Collision. 


Their conversation was interrupted here by a man bringing 
them something to eat and a bucket of water. 

“I do not see why they did not run this car over to the Stock 
Yards so these animals could have been taken out and fed and watered 
and their car cleaned in proper shape,” Billy Jr. heard a red-headed 
man say, as he pushed back the sliding door that shut them in. “For 
heaven’s sake! I thought it was two horses we had been sent to look 
after and not a car of goats,” as Billy Jr. appeared at the door. 

“You can have the job,” said a jolly-looking, fat man. “I throw 
up my share right here. I had all I wanted to do with goats when I 
was a boy.” 

“Why, what did they ever do to you that you should take such a 
dislike to them?” said the red-headed man. 

“Well, I’ll tell you. The first thing they did to me when I was 
a little shaver was to chew my hair off.” 

“Chew your hair off! How in the world did they get a chance 
to do that?” 

“It happened in this way,” said the fat man, “I went to sleep on 
a bank by the side of the road one hot day, and when I woke up my 
hair was all chewed off, and the old Billy had commenced on one leg 
of my trousers. I stoned him good for this, but he got even a week 
after when he met me coming home from one of the neighbors with 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 



a basket of eggs in one hand and a pat of butter in the other. The 
first thing I knew I was standing on my head in the pat of butter 
and the eggs were all broken beside me with the basket turned upside- 
down. From that day on that goat and I were enemies. He would 
do me a mean trick and I would pay him back the first chance I got. 

But somehow or other he 
always seemed to get the 
best of me. And this goat 
is as much like him as 
two peas; and how do I 
know but what it is the 
same goat, though that 
was years ago? Goats 
may live to be a hundred 
for all I know, and I 
don’t care to take my 
chances; so I will at- 
tend to the horse and you 
look after the goat.” 

As these words left hia 
mouth Billy Jr. made a 
plunge for him and, 


The Collision. 


ing in the yard clear over his head, ran off and disappeared behind 
some freight cars. 

“Now, what did I tell you! He has got us in trouble right off, 
ior most likely he will never come back and we will have to pay for 
him Drat goats, I say! and double drat this one in particular!” 



(29) 


Billy Jr. Gets a 

Taste of the West 


UST outside the car yard fence was a Chinese laundry, and 
ever since Billy’s car had been backed into the yard he had 
been watching the Chinamen at work at the open door. 
So now that he was loose he determined to get out of the yard and 
see what it was the Chinamen were sticking their cheeks out with 
and blowing on the clothes. 

When he appeared at the door it startled one of the Chinamen 
so that he let all the water that was in his mouth and which he had 
intended to sprinkle the clothes with, fly in Billy’s face. Now Billy 
thought the Chinaman had spat in his face on purpose, and if there 
is one thing more than another that will make a goat fighting mad, 
it is to spit or even pretend to spit at him. 

With a plunge forward he butted the Chinaman through a cur- 
tained partition that separated the front room from the back, knock- 
ing another Chinaman that was bending over a washtub into the tub 

( 3 °) 



Billy Jr. Gets a Taste of the West. 



headforemost and 
upsetting tub, Chi- 
namen, and all. 
Then he quietly- 
walked into the 
back yard where 
gome nicely starch- 
ed shirts were 
hanging out to 
dry. These he 
chewed until the 
two Chinamen 
tried to drive him 
out of the yard by 
turning the hose 
on him. They had 
only given him 
one squirt when 
he went for them 
and butted one 
into a limp heap 
in one corner of 


3 


( ?! ^ 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


the room, while the other took to his heels down the street, as if the 
old man from the sulphur regions were after him. 

On coming out of the laundry Billy Jr. heard Star whinnying 
for him in a distressed, excited voice, and he bleated back, “I am 
coming, Star. What’s the matter?” 

Star answered back, “Hurry up or you will be left behind; they 
are going to switch our car on to the Santa Fe train.” 

Billy knew he would not have time to go around the way he had 
come, so he crawled through a place in the fence where a couple of 
boards were off, and gained his car just as it began to back out of the 
yard. 

Well, old fellow, where have you been? You look all wet, and 
you have nearly given me nervous prostration by your absence. I 
have neighed and neighed for you until my throat is sore.” 

“I never heard you,” said Billy J r., “for I was inside the laundry 
seeing to a little washing,” and Billy Jr. commenced to laugh. 

“What are you laughing at?” asked Star. 

“At the funny frightened faces those pig-tailed Chinamen made 
at me when they saw me coming for them. I wonder if the China- 
man I frightened up the street has stopped running yet,” said Billy J r. 

“Tell me so I can laugh, too,” said Star, “for I know you have 
been in mischief.” 


Billy Jr. Gets a Taste of the West. 


While Billy was telling of his adventure the train started on its 
way, westward ho. 

The trip from Chicago to Kansas City was made without any 
excitement; and after they had left Kansas City behind and were well 
on their way across the state, Billy, who was looking out of his peep- 
hole, said: 

“Well, I am glad I took your advice and did not try to walk or 
steal rides to the West. I would have been a tired, foot-sore goat by 
this time, if I had ever gotten as far as here, which I doubt. The 
map of the United States I chewed up never gave me any idea of the 
distance between the eastern states and the western. Look quickly, 
Star, at that woman with a baby in her arm, coming out of that hole 
in the ground. What on earth is she doing there? They don’t bury 
people alive out here, do they?” 

Star laughed and said, “No, she lives there. That is what they 
call a ‘dugout,’ and lots of people in Kansas live in them.” 

“Well, when I have to live in a hole in the ground I hope I shall 
turn into a groundhog and be done with it.” 

“Mercy I” exclaimed Billy later, “isn’t it getting hot and oppres- 
sive in here!” 

“Yes, and it bodes no good for us, for I am afraid it is the calm 
before the storm and that we are going to have a regular old-fash- 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


ioned Kansas blizzard or cyclone. Do you see that black cloud roll- 
ing toward us from the northeast? Well, I think that is a Northeaster, 
as they call them, bringing a sand storm with it.” 

“Ugh! how cold it has grown all of a sudden. I feel chilled to 
the bone, after that hot, stuffy air we have been having. And see 
how it is raining off there.” 

“Off there now, but in less than a minute it will be here; only 
that is not rain but fine sand that will sting us like needles, blind us, 
choke us, and nearly suffocate us before it blows over as suddenly as 
it came. I know what they are like, for we passed through one on 
our way East.” 

Before Star had stopped talking the first particles of sand were 
flying and had already shut one of Billy’s eyes and filled his mouth 
with grit. 

“Oh, this is terrible! Why don’t some one come and shut our 
windows so the nasty sand can’t sift in? I would not live in Kansas 
if they gave me the whole state,” said Billy Jr., “if this is the kind of 
storms they have here.” 

Two days later they 'found themselves in New Mexico in sight 
of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, and Star said that by 
three o’clock they would be at Las Vegas, where their journey was 


Billy Jr. Gets a Taste of the West. 


to end. “And I shan’t be sorry, for my legs ache from standing on 
them so many days without lying down.” 

They were met at Las Vegas by Mr. Wilder, who had been very 
much worried about them since he heard of the wreck they had been 
in. But his fears were laid at rest when he saw them, for both had 
come through in fine shape and had stood the trip splendidly. 

The next morning Billy was tied to a wagon filled with groceries 
and provisions for Mr. Wilder’s ranch, whither they were bound, 
while Star with his master on his back galloped ahead or followed 
behind as he saw fit. Once when Star was walking beside him Billy 
said: 

“Star, do you know I feel lonesome for the first time in my life. 
When I look at those great solemn mountains, whose tops are always 
covered with snow, I feel about as big as a fly and as if they were 
trying to teach me a lesson in patience, and dear knows I need it badly 
enough. How do they make you feel when you look at them?” 

“I love them,” said Star, “and the nearer I get to them and the 
more I look at them the nearer God seems to get. People think 
horses, dogs and other animals don’t know about God, but I guess we 
feel His presence more than they do sometimes, though we can’t talk 
about it.” 

“How much further is it?” asked Billy Jr. “I hate walking 


BiUy Whiskers Jr. 


behind a wagon, taking all the dust from the horses’ heels. And this 
dust seems to smart so when it gets in one’s eyes.” 

“Yes, I know it does; that is because there is so much alkali in 
the ground about here. Don’t you remember my telling you about 
Dead Lake and the bones of animals you would see bleaching on its 
margin had you tried to walk across the desert? Well, this is not a 
desert, but we have to pass a small lake of alkali water, and, small as 
it is, you can see the bones of animals lying beside it. There is very 
little water out here, no large rivers, and only a few springs or little 
mountain streams.” 

“Quick! look off there toward the foot-hills; do you see that 
grey dog running with a long loping trot?” continued Star. 

“Yes, what of it?” said Billy Jr. 

“Why, that is not a dog but a coyote or prairie wolf.” 

“It is? I wish I had taken a better look at him,” answered 
Billy Jr. 

Presently Star called out, “Cheer up, Billy. We are almost 
there, for I can see the smoke now rising from the ranchhouse in the 
distance.” 


( 36 ) 


Billy Jr. as ^ 

Leader of the Sheep. 


ARLY the next morning a small flock of sheep was driven 
from the corral, headed by their leader, an old mountain 
goat, who was always selected to take out the new flocks for 
the first two or three times and to break in the new leaders. And 
now it was Billy Jr.’s turn to be broken in and taught how to lead the 
sheep and give warning of any danger. 

He found old Long Hair (so named from his exceedingly long 
hair) a very agreeable, patient goat and willing to answer all the new 
goat’s questions, which were not a few, as he wanted to know all 
about the country and the ways of Western sheep. Billy knew he 
must keep up a certain dignity or the sheep would never look up to 
him or have any confidence in him. Soon he was to get their confi- 
dence and a name for bravery in a way he least expected. 

Old Long Hair had led them from the corral across the mesa and 
down into a valley where a little water was to be found in the bottom 

(37) 



Billy Whiskers Jr. 


of an “aroya,” or deep ditch, which an Easterner would call a gully. 
It is made by the water washing down the sides of the mountains and 
plowing its way through the soft soil. When the flock got to the 
edge of this aroya, Billy noticed that a large ram with immense 
double twisted horns walked out of the flock toward him. But as he 
stood looking down into the muddy yellow water thinking to himself 
that it would not be fit to drink if he took the trouble to climb down 
after it, he forgot all about the ram, until he heard a voice at his side 
say: 

“Well, young fellow, what do you mean by coming along with 
this flock without asking my permission? I suppose you know that 
I am master of this herd and I don’t need the assistance of any dandy- 
fied goat like you. When I do, I will select one of my own choosing 
and not a stranger and tenderfoot from the East.” 

Billy Jr. laughed in his face and said: 

“Don’t provoke me, old fellow, or I may give you a butt that will 
land you in that muddy water.” 

“What! You dare to speak to me like that, you — you imperti- 
nent black-haired goat! If you dare to say another word I will hook 
you with my strong horns.” 

“And what do you suppose I would be doing while you were 

(38) 


Billy Jr. as Leader of the Sheep. 



doing that?” asked Billy. “What do you suppose I would be doing 
with my own long horns about that time?” 

“Look here, young impertinence, I don’t intend to stand here 
and talk to you all morning, so be off with you.” 

“Neither shall I waste any more time over you, Mr. Puffed-up, 
so take that, and that!” said Billy, as he gave the ram two sharp hooks 

in his side and sent him 
rolling to the bottom of 
the aroya. 

When he looked up he 
found that all the sheep 
had gathered around to 
see how the bully of the 
herd was going to come 
out with the slick black 
stranger. Billy made a 
bow to them and said: 

“I would not explain to 
Mr. Puffer who I am, 
but I don’t mind telling 
you all that I am the goat 
selected by your master to 


( 39) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


lead this flock, and he brought me all the way from Boston to do it. 
He picked me out because he thought I was a good fighter and could 
take care of myself as well as protect you from the wolves, which he 
said were bad in these parts. Now if any one of you thinks I can’t 
take care of myself and would not make a good leader, I would like 
him to walk out of the flock and say so, and we can fight it out while 
the rest of you look on and see fair play.” 

No sheep or goat walked out, and from that day until he left he 
was the most beloved and admired of all the leaders the flock had 
ever had. 

The next day Billy, as the acknowledged leader, determined 
when he started out not to stop for water at that dirty aroya, but to 
push on to the foothills and see if he could not find a nice, cool spring, 
or at least some water that was not as thick with yellow mud as that 
they had drunk the day before. 

He let the sheep graze as they went, but he always managed to 
keep ahead of them a few steps and in this way they unconsciously 
hurried forward and by noon found themselves climbing the steep 
sides of the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, which in comparison 
with the main -ranges seem like little hills. 

Billy left them to graze there while he climbed to the top so he 
could get a view of the surrounding country and see what was in the 

( 4 °) 



He Felt Himself Pinioned on a Pair of Long, Sharp Horns. 






Billy Jr . as Leader of the Sheep. 


opposite valley. The sight that met his eyes was beyond description 
— in the distance lay the main range of the Rocky Mountains, deep 
blue in color with a white cap of snow on their heads ; and shading 
down in all the intermediate colors between deep purple, blue and 
pale gray were parallel ranges of mountains. Directly beneath him 
a silvery stream wound its way through a fertile valley, and nestled 
on its banks was a small settlement of adobe houses where lived the 
Mexicans that farmed the land. 

He had only to turn around and at his back lay an entirely dif- 
ferent scene. This one was grand in its lonesomeness, with its plains 
and mesas destitute of trees or life. Out across the barren prairie on 
a tableland equally as barren lay Fort Union, now deserted, from 
which the soldiers used to ride to fight the Indians. Whichever way 
the eye roamed one saw height, space, grandeur which awed into still- 
ness and made one think of God. It was a silent sermon felt, not 
spoken. 

Suddenly Billy was rudely awakened from his reverie. There, 
skulking stealthily along behind some rocks and bushes, he detected 
a moving object that seemed to come creeping, creeping nearer and 
nearer to his sheep. He looked again more intently, and yes, sure 
enough, it was a wolf he saw making for the flock. In a second the 
responsibility of his position, which he had forgotten for a time, 


Billy Whiskers Jr, 


rushed upon him, and with bound after bound he started down the 
mountain side. Only a moment he halted to see if the wolf were still 
coming, and as he did so, a little white, tender lamb ran on ahead of 
its mother right into the jaws of death, for not twenty steps ahead 
crouched the wolf ready to spring. 

The little lamb came nearer. The wolf crouched on his hind 
legs a little more, opened his mouth, and sprang; but instead of his 
teeth closing on the tender morsel, he felt himself pinioned on a pair 
of long, sharp horns. 

But Billy was also surprised to find on closer inspection that his 
supposed wolf was not a wolf at all, but one of the half-civilized dogs 
from the placita, or Mexican village. It seems that these dogs will 
guard their own flocks from an enemy, but will sneak out and eat up 
any young lamb that strays from the fold of a stranger’s flock. 

After this the sheep were more fond of Billy than ever and would 
go anywhere he led them without a murmur. 


u*> 


A Fight With Wolves. 


EVERAL DAYS after this when Billy was out in the moun- 
tains he noticed that it grew suddenly cold and that light 
flurries of snow began to blow and swirl through the moun- 
tain passes. He climbed to the top of a peak whence he could get a 
good view of the clouds and saw, advancing from the direction of the 
main range, a terrible black cloud that was hurling snow and sleet 
on the mountains and valleys as it came. 

It took hirn but a moment to decide what to do, for he knew if 
the young lambs were caught out in such a severe storm they would 
be frozen to death. So he turned back to the flock and told them to 
follow him as quickly as they could and not to stop to take even a 
mouthful of grass. He led them into the deepest, most sheltered canon 
he could find and told them to stand close together so as to keep each 
other as warm as possible and to be careful to see that the young sheep 
and lambs were on the inside where it would be the warmest. 



( 43 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


Here they stood while the storm raged and blew over and above 
the canon, but the sheep were so sheltered that scarcely any snow fell 
on them, as the force of the wind carried it over. It grew darker 
and darker and time to go home, but Billy said: 

“We will have to stay here all night. It will never do to go out 
in such a storm onto the open prairie. Half of you would perish 
with the cold before you got across the valley.” 

So there they stayed in their little sheltered nook undisturbed 
until about midnight, w r hen they were startled by hearing the weird 
yelping bark of a pack of prairie wolves coming straight down the 
canon. This threw the sheep into a terrible panic, for they knew 
that ’same pack of wolves only too well; they had made raids on them 
before and carried off a baby lamb and now and then an old sheep. 

Now Billy had never met or even seen a wolf in his life, but he 
had absolutely no fear of them, as he knew they were too much like 
dogs to be afraid of. Still he did not know how he would come out 
fighting a whole pack by himself, and from the sound of their voices 
it seemed as if there must be at least fifty of them. 

“Now all you rams that have horns make a circle around the 
sheep, and if a wolf tries to get through in order to get at a young 
sheep, fight for your lives and theirs and don’t give up and run off. 
While you do this I will run here and there wherever I think a wolf 


( 44 ? 


A Fight With Wolves. 


is most likely to break through your circle and kill them one by one, 
for I am not afraid of any wolf I ever heard of.” 

This stand of Billy’s gave them more courage, but they were so 
accustomed to turn tail and run at the approach of danger that Billy 
was afraid they would do so now at the first sight they got of the 
wolves. 

All this time the wolves had been drawing nearer and nearer, 
until now only the bend of the pass separated them from the flock. 

Soon the yellowish light of seven pairs of eyes glared through 
the blackness. This was met by the fiery red light in Billy Jr.’s eyes. 
The trembling sheep dared not move nor look up. Not so Billy! 
His eyes fairly blazed defiance, and with a snort of rage he bounded 
on the leader of the pack and killed him before he knew what had 
struck him. Billy was so black the wolves could not see him; all 
they could see were the red balls of fire that seemed to be here, there, 
and everywhere, the most deadly balls they had ever come in contact 
with, for wherever they appeared a wolf lay dead the next moment. 

Billy heard a bleat of agony, and looking to where it came from 
saw a dark object in among the white, and knew that a wolf had 
broken through the ring he had formed for their protection and the 
old rams were deserting their post and running away. 

“Come back, you cowards!” Billy cried. “You will only be 


( 45 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 



killed if you go 
out alone.” This 
brought them to 
their senses and 
they closed . in 
once more around 
the sheep, but left 
Billy to do all the 
fighting. This he 
did with a ven- 
geance and to such 
good purpose that 
the wolves com- 
menced to slink 
away, wondering 
what kind of a 
leader these sheep 
had in the place of 
old Long Hair. 
The next morn- 
ing Billy Jr. led the sheep home, thinking it would be better for 
them in the corral than out on the mountains until the weather mod- 


(46) 


Ji Fight With Wolves. 


erated, for they were not used to such storms in this climate. 

When Mr. Wilder saw Billy leading the flock home he went to 
meet him on Star and said: 

“Billy, I was not mistaken in taking you for a born leader. You 
are worth your weight in gold. But it beats me where you hid your- 
selves last night, for we looked for you and could not find one of you. 
And then for you to come back out of such a storm without even a 
lamb missing is remarkable. I wonder the wolves did not get after 
you and kill some of the young lambs, even if they did not freeze to 
death.” And Billy Jr. wondered what he would have said could he 
see the dead wolves lying in the canon. 

Three davs after the dead bodies were found by a man from 
another ranch when looking for his sheep that had been lost since the 
night of the storm and, seeing some small flecks of wool sticking to 
the side of the rocks opposite, he knew why his neighbor's sheep had 
not been killed and his had. He immediately rode over and told 
Mr. Wilder, who rode back to see where Billy had fought his brave 
battle and saved so many lives. From that day on Billy was the hero 
he deserved to be and no amount of money could have bought him. 

As the sheep stayed in the corral the next day after the storm, 
Billy thought he would try and find Star and have a talk with him. 

4 (47) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 

i 


So he jumped the low wall of the corral and soon found his friend 
in the stable-yard chewing some corn husks. 

“Hello, Billy Jr.! I am glad to see you,” said Star. “I have 
not laid eyes on you for ages and I am anxious to learn what you think 
of our Western country by this time.” 

“Oh, I think it is good enough as far as the country goes for any 
one who likes it, but I am tired of it and am going back to civiliza- 
tion.” 

“What, tired of it already, and with all the honors you have had 
heaped upon you!” said Star. 

“Yes. I don’t like buffalo grass as a steady diet nor dirty canon 
water to drink. And those sheep are altogether too stupid to suit me. 
I would rather live in a city; and that is what I have come to see you 
about. I am not ready to go home yet, but I can’t make up my mind 
whether to go to old Mexico or California.” 

“Hear him talk, will you! He talks of going to old Mexico or 
California as I would of going into the next pasture. But, my dear 
fellow, how do you expect to get there? and are you aware that both 
of these places are hundreds of miles from here?” said Star. 

“Yes, I know they are, but what of that? If I want to go there I 
can get there. All I have to do is to wish for a thing hard enough and 
I get it. You know I made up my mind to come West, and here I am.” 

(48) 


J} Fight With Wolves. 


“Yes, you are a plucky fellow, and I half believe that if we had 
not brought you, you would have carried out your threat of walking 
here,” said Star. 

“You are right, I should,” said Billy Jr. 

“Well, if you want my advice, I would go to old Mexico, as I 
think there would be more of interest there for you than in Cali- 
fornia.” 

“I don’t know whether to follow the railroad tracks or start 
across country.” 

“Oh, Billy! You will be the death of me, the way you talk of 
our great distances as if they were only a few miles,” said Star. 

“Here comes the man to chase me back to the corral and I sup- 
pose he is wondering how I ever got out. I want to thank you for 
your kindness to me and to tell you how much I have enjoyed your 
friendship, which I hope nothing will ever break. I trust we will 
meet again in the East some day. Good luck to you and good-bye 
for a time. When I see you again I will have something of interest 
to tell you. Good-bye again,” and Billy bounded over the fence as 
the man walked in the gate to chase him out, while Star whinnied 
his good-bye. 


(49) 


Billy Jr. Learns Something 
about Cowboys and Indians. 


0 ! |NE morning three months later Billy Jr. appeared, tired, cold, 
SMl and hungry, in front of a ranchman’s door; and was first 
seen by the Chinese cook, who opened the kitchen door of 
the long adobe house to see what the weather was like. There was 
Billy by the well, trying to get a drink out of the almost empty bucket 
on the well-curb. 

Billy’s first thought when he saw the Chinaman was to run away, 
for he had been so illy treated lately — shot at, stoned, and half-starved 
— that he had lost some of his assurance and confidence in people and 
preferred to look them well over before he got too near. But the 
Chinaman appeared so inoffensive that he stood his ground and stared 
back when the man rubbed his eyes to see if it really were a large, live 
billy-goat by the well; his first thought being that he had not quite 
got over his opium pipe of last night. But when Billy Jr. bleated a 



Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians . 


good-morning to him, he came out of his stupor, walked to the well, 
and drew a bucket of water for the tired, thirsty beast. 

From that day Billy was a fast friend of the Chinaman. Never 
in his life had anything tasted so good and refreshing as that cool 
drink of water after his iong ? dusty trip across the plains and mesas. 

For a day and a night Billy Jr. had followed a wagon trail with- 
out passing a human being or habitation, and when he saw this ranch- 
house it was indeed a welcome sight. He was tired, lonesome, hun- 
gry, and discouraged, and he knew that he must go back to the little 
town by the railroad, the last settlement he had met with, if he did 
not soon find a house and some living thing, man or beast, he could 
not endure the dreary solitude another day. 

He preferred the town to this, even if the boys did tie tin cans to 
his tail, the women chase him with broomsticks or throw hot water 
on him when he tried to steal a meal from their kitchens, and the 
cowboys aim at him to see how near they could come without actually 
shooting him. Once, when he stopped to get a drink of water from a 
trough standing outside of a saloon, the cowboys caught him and 
forced him to drink some beer, which made him feel dizzy and as if 
the sidewalk were flying up and going to hit him in the face. And, 
oh myl what a splitting headache he had all the next day! It made 
him wonder and wonder how people could drink such nasty, bitter 


(s O 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 

I — — 


stuff when they could have pure, clear water instead, and he thought 
if they had to pay five dollars a bottle for water, perhaps they would 
crave it. 

After these experiences, do you wonder that Billy was glad to 
find a friend in the Chinaman? 

When the potatoes were peeled for breakfast the next morning, 
the skins were given to Billy, and they tasted as good to him, after his 
long fast, as fresh turnips did when he was living in plenty. 

Just as the sun lighted the tops of the mountains, the Chinaman 
rang a large bell that hung on a high pole near the well, to call the 
cowboys to breakfast, and as its peals rang out on the morning air it 
was answered by the barking of what seemed to be dozens of coyotes, 
although, in reality, there was perhaps not half that number; a pecu- 
liarity of their bark being that it seems to double itself and to sound 
as if coming from twice as many throats as it really does. Billy did 
not like to hear the coyotes, for their dismal cries made him feel both 
lonesome and homesick. 

Immediately after breakfast the cowboys rode off to look after 
the cattle and as soon as Billy saw them depart he gave a sigh of 
relief, for when they were around they were always plaguing him 
and throwing lassos or cracking their whips at him. 

"Norw, while the Chinaman is busy with his dishes and the cow- 


Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians. 


boys are away, is my time to explore the premises and find out what 
things look like around here,” thought Billy and, seeing an open door, 
he walked through and found himself in a long, low room barren of 
carpet or furniture, unless two tiers of bunks, a wooden chair or two, 
a washstand with a tin basin on it, and a cracked looking-glass, could 
be called furniture. 

This room was in great disorder. Boots were lying around 
everywhere; some in the bunks, others sticking out from under them, 
and still others strewn about in general confusion all over the floor; 
and where there were no boots there were clay and corn-cob pipes 
with half-empty tobacco bags beneath them. None of these things 
surprised Billy, but what did puzzle him was that between the win- 
dows there were a lot of holes in the walls which were filled with old 
rags loosely poked in, while guns of all sizes and descriptions hung 
on the walls or were stacked in the corners of the room. 

“This looks like a fort,” thought Billy, “but I fail to see who 
there is to fight around here.” But, even as he thought this, he re- 
membered that Indians lived in this territory, and cold chills ran 
down his spine, for although he was only a goat, he had often heard 
of the unparalleled cruelty of the Apache Indian dwelling in this 
part of the country and he at once realized why this house had been 
built with holes in its walls and why all the guns were there. In 


(S3) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


case of a siege, the cowboys barricaded the windows and doors and 
stuck the barrels of their guns into these holes, and then they were 
prepared to resist an attack and to defend themselves. 

Besides the room in which Billy stood, the house contained a 
sitting-room, dining-room, kitchen, and a small room that was kept 
shut up except when occupied by the owner during his yearly visits 
to the ranch. 

When Billy had reached this point in his explorations, he heard 
the Chinaman calling, “Bee-lee, Bee-lee, Bee-lee.” 

“I suppose that means me, so since he makes my name sound so 
much like Bee, I will carry out the notion and make a bee-line for 
him,” said Billy. 

“Where-ee you been, Bee-lee?” said the Chinaman when he saw 
Billy running toward him. “Come-ee long-ee in a here-ee; I have-ee 
something good-ee for-ee you-ee,” and he gave Billy a piece of John- 
nie-cake that had been scorched in the baking and which he did not 
want the ranchman to see because of the wasted meal. 

While Billy Jr. was eating, the Chinaman threw himself down 
upon a wooden bench in the corner of the room, took two or three 
whiffs from his opium pipe and was soon fast asleep, dreaming doubt- 
less of his almond-eyed sweetheart in the Orient. When Billy saw 
the pipe fall from his hand, he took first a smell and then a taste of 


( 54 ) 


Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians 


the powder that had spilled out of it upon the floor; and soon he felt 
the most delightful, drowsy sensation stealing over him, and he, too, 

curled himself up by the 
bench near the Chinaman 
and was soon dreaming that 
he was back in the old home 
meadow with his father, 
mother, and Day; but the 
meadow he dreamed of was 
covered with sweeter clover 
blossoms than any goat ever 
ate and the breeze that 
fanned his face was laden 
with sweeter perfume than 
mortals ever breathed. 

Billy was rudely awakened from this beautiful vision by a vig- 
orous kick and on recovering his bewildered senses, he found the 
room filled with excited cowboys all talking at once. From their 
conversation he soon learned that the Indians were out on the war- 
path and were even now within sight of the house. 

With wondering eyes Billy watched the boys board up the win- 
dows, barricade the doors, and stick the gun-barrels into the holes in 

( 55 ) 



Billy Whiskers Jr. 


the wall. Presently, he was driven into the sitting-room and to his 
surprise he found that five of the. cowboys’ ponies had also been 
driven in here for safety, as the boys well knew that the Indians would 
steal them if left outside. He had no sooner entered this room than 
he heard a loud bang, and a bullet flattened itself against the door- 
jamb just as the Chinaman ran in carrying a 'bucket of water from 
the well; for during a siege, water is a necessity for both man and 
beast, and while the boys had been boarding up the windows from 
the inside, the Chinaman had been busy filling an old barrel with 
water from the well. 

“The red devils are upon us,” he heard a cowboy say, and then 
the door was slammed shut and he was alone with the ponies. While 
the bullets sped thick and fast, and showers of arrows fell, all of 
which were answered by the cowboys’ bullets as they tried to pick 
off the Indians skulking around the house, the ponies told Billy 
when and how the raid began. 

An old roan pony that had been on the ranch for years said, 
“When we went out this morning to round up and count the cattle, 
Jim Dowsen, the man who rides me, said, ‘Something has happened 
during the night, for the cattle are frightened and restless,’ and when 
we got near them we saw at a glance what was the matter.” And he 
proceeded to tell Billy about the last raid of the redskins. 


Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians. 


The Indians had ridden into the herd during the night, had 
stolen fifty head of the company’s best cattle, and had ham-strung 
about fifteen more out of wanton cruelty, because the savage nature 
delights in torture. When Jim saw what had been done he was 
furious and he rode off like the wind to find the herder who had 
been with the cattle. After riding around the whole herd twice 
without discovering any trace of him, he at last found him lying face 
downward on the ground, his body without arms, his head minus 
its scalp. After mutilating him, the savages had left him for the 
wolves and vultures to devour, and then satisfied with their fiendish 
work had stolen his pony and ridden away. Billy discovered that 
the Apache Indians were the most cruel and fiendish of all the tribes 
living in the territories. 

During all this time the fury of the savages had increased. 

Before leaving the ranch, the redskins intended finishing their 
work of destruction. They wanted pale faces. They wanted scalps. 
But most of all, they wanted fire-water (the Indian name for whisky) . 
And so the attack lasted for three days or more. Provisions were 
getting low within the cabin, the fuel to cook the meals with was gone, 
and the horses were neighing for fodder, as they had been fed only 
potatoes and cabbage once a day, and then as a last resort, straw out 
of the mattresses; and still the Indians skulked outside and waited for 

( 57 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


the little band of men in the house either to surrender or to starve. 

The third night of the siege the boys began to lose courage. 
Constant watching, loss of sleep, little to drink and less to eat had 
nearly worn them out, while their enemies seemed to be in perfect 
condition and acted as though satisfied to camp outside their door 
for the rest of their natural lives. 

At last, one of the cowboys named Henry Staples said, “I have 
it, boys ! I know just how we can get out of here ; save our scalps and, 
what is better still, kill every one of those fiends sitting outside grimly 
waiting to see our finish.” 

“Don’t buoy us up with a fairy tale like that, Henry,” they all 
said, “for it is too good to be true.” 

“Listen and hear my plan,” he replied. “You remember that 
can of rat-poison we bought to kill rats with when in town the last 
time?” 

“Yes,” they answered. 

“Well, let us take that rat-poison and put it in a keg of fire- 
water; next, run up a flag of truce, then set the keg with seven or 
eight cups outside. Thinking we are offering it in the place of a 
peace pipe, the Indians will not hesitate to come and drink. They 
are used to poor fire-water and so will be less likely to detect the 
poison and will drink cup after cup until they are stupified, and in the 


Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians. 


end the poison will kill them as surely as it would kill the rats. These 
Indians are not any better than rats and should be treated as such. 
Have they not tortured and killed hundreds of people?” 

“You are right, Henry; we can at least try your plan. It seems 
the only feasible way out of our plight, and it can but fail.” So they 
blew a horn to attract the attention of the Indians and then hoisted 
a flag of truce on the flag-pole at the side of the house where the 
United States flag usually floated ; and while the Indians were watch- 
ing it, the cowboys set the fire-water outside with the cups on top of 
the keg; then, through the peep-holes where the guns had been, they 
watched the Indians confer together about coming forward to get a 
taste of the much coveted fire-water. 

Presently a big buck, evidently the chief of the tribe, walked 
boldly forward and took a drink. He smacked his lips and then 
drew another cupful, which he swallowed at one gulp. Upon seeing 
this, the other braves ran up to get their share, for they did not know 
how much or how little the keg might contain. When they found 
that it was full, they commenced to dance around in high glee and 
they drank again and again as if they could not get enough. 

“I should like to shoot every one of them as they now stand,” 
said Henry. 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


“No, don’t,’’ said the others. “Save your ammunition for live 
Indians. These will soon be dead.” 

The chief, who had taken the first drink, was now feeling the 
effect of the potion and was becoming quarrelsome. He soon began 
to fight with another big Indian and this led to the rest taking sides 
with one or the other, and soon all were engaged in a grand melee, 
flourishing their weapons in a most reckless and dangerous manner, 
regardless of consequences, because the fire-water had gone to their 
heads. Presently a young buck, half-crazed under the combined 
influence of the fire-water and the poison, started for the door of the 
house and tried to batter it down, forgetting all about the flag of 
truce, and calling upon the other Indians to follow him and scalp 
the pale faces, but, even as their arms were upraised to strike the 
door, they were seized with cramps and violent pains. The poison 
had conquered at last and soon all were lying around in every possi- 
ble shape, twisting and writhing in their death struggles. 

In less than an hour every Indian lay motionless and the cow- 
boys went out to take possession of their arms and ponies. Suddenly 
Billy saw an Indian, supposed to be dead, stealthily rise and creep 
after one of the boys who was bending over a dead brave unstrapping 
his cartridge belt For a second he saw a knife glisten in the sun- 
light and he knew that in another instant it would be buried in the 



The Man Made a Grab for the Greased Pole and down He Went. 





























































































' 




























- 





Billy Jr. Learns Something about Cowboys and Indians. 


unsuspecting boy’s back. With Billy, to see was to act, so without 
hesitation he rushed upon the treacherous Indian and tossed him 
aside as if he had been a paper ball. The knife dropped from his 
hand, for he had been killed instantly. One of Billy’s sharp horns 
had pierced his heart. All the cowboy said, when he realized what 
Billy had done, was, “Billy, you have saved my life and for this you 
shall have a collar of gold, with your name and a record of your 
brave act engraved upon it.” The cowboy kept his promise, so ever 
after Billy wore his collar of gold. 

A few days after the siege, Billy felt that he had seen enough of 
ranch life and life on the plains, so he decided to return to town and 
from there go to some large city as fast as his legs would carry him. 
“For, if I stay here,” he mused, “other Indians may come to avenge 
those who have been poisoned. They may take a fancy to my horns 
to decorate one of their wigwams and may cut my head off, and then 
where would I be? Who knows but what they may come this very 
night? Anyhow I have seen enough of wild western Hfe and I shall 
leave this country right now. There is no time like the present,” 
and with this soliloquy he started on a dead run for town by the same 
way he had come and he never stopped to say good-bye even to the 
Chinaman. 


(61) 


Billy Jr. and the Firemen. 


T HE next we hear of Billy Jr. he is in San Francisco living, 
as his father did before him, with an engine company near 
the outskirts of the city. When first we spy him, he and 
another goat are stealing vegetables out of the firemen’s garden. 
This other goat is an old fellow with a stubby tail and a single horn, 
and although he eats a great deal every day, anything and everything, 
from tin cans to rotten potatoes, and has a digestive apparatus like 
an ostrich, he still looks thin and shows every rib in his anatomy. 
Whether this lean, gaunt, hungry look is because of a guilty con- 
science or the result of ill-usage, I know not, but I do know that he 
is the homeliest goat any one ever looked at. 

Bang! goes a gun and the next minute four pairs of legs are fly- 
ing over the garden fence. “There, I told you we could not steal 
safely in broad daylight,” said Billy Jr. 

“Oh! I hope you don’t mind a little scare like that,” answered 


(62) 



Billy Jr. and the Firemen. 



the old goat. “Why, 
my sides are full of 
bullet holes. They 
are always firing at 
me, but I simply ca- 
per round and round 
until they pick the 
shot out, for it only 
goes in skin deep.” 

“Well, I can tell 
you I don’t care to 
have my sides pep- 
pered like that,” said 
Billy; “and, too, a 
bullet might go 
astray and put out 
one or both of my 
eyes. But here comes 
that fireman I so detest. Let us run and hide. I shall get even 
with him some of these fine days when he least expects it, for he is 
always cutting me with that fine-lashed whip that hangs in the 
engine-house. I don’t care how much he tries to club me, for I can 


5 


(63) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


fight, butt, and run, besides when he has a club in his hand he is 
obliged to come close in order to hit me, so that gives me a chance 
to butt him, but a long-lashed whip is a very different matter. It 
winds itself about one before he knows what is coming.” 

“I, too, have a grudge against that particular fireman,” said old 
One-horn, as the boys had nicknamed the other goat, and if you can 
get even with him I shall be your friend for life, for it was through 

i 

him that I lost my horn and you know it is as bad for a goat to lose a 
horn as it is for a man to lose a leg. Come and lie here in the shade 
while I tell you how I lost my horn.” 

“That fireman,” the old goat continued, “had been persistently 
mean to me for weeks; had put red pepper in my food until my 
tongue was nearly burned out, had shaken snuff under my nose and 
on my beard until I had almost sneezed my head off, had turned the 
hose on me until I was half frozen, and had annoyed me in a hun- 
dred other petty ways, until I felt that I could kill him with a clear 
conscience if I ever got the chance. He was the largest of the fire- 
men and a champion boxer, but I was not afraid of that and resolved 
to watch for an opportunity when I might catch him alone and then 
pay him with compound interest for all the mean tricks he had played 
on me. One day I was lying here in the shade half-way between 
sleeping and waking when I saw him come out of the engine-house 

(64) 


Billy Jr. and the Firemen. 


and start to cross the vacant lot you see before you, for his home is 
on the other side. He was half-way across when the thought struck 
me — now is my opportunity. He was alone and carried nothing to 
protect himself with, so I jumped up and ran quietly behind him, 
the soft turf deadening all sounds of my approach, and he never 
suspected that I was near him until I gave him a vigorous butt that 
was the master-stroke of my life. It sent him dying six feet or more 
straight in the air. When he struck the ground he lay perfectly 
motionless for a moment with the jreath knocked completely out of 
him. He was only stunned, however, for he soon raised his head 
and, seeing me, shook his first and fairly roared, ‘You confounded 
old goat, I’ll break every bone in your old carcass for this.’ 

“I intended to let him alone after that, for I thought he had 
been punished enough, but when he shook his fist and threatened 
me, I was mad all over and I lowered my head and would have 
butted him again had he not caught me by the horns, at the same time 
giving my head a twist with his great muscular arm, that nearly 
broke my neck. This made me furious, and I stamped and kicked 
and tried to get my horns loose, but he held me tight, well knowing 
that it was dangerous to let me go. 

“Well, we rolled and tumbled about in the mud until we were 
both nearly exhausted, and at last he loosened his hold of my horns, 

(6S) 


Billy Whiskers Jr, 


at the same time giving me a parting blow on the head that made 
me see stars for an instant. In the meantime he started for home 
on a dead run, and as a matter of course I lost no time in following 
him, but I did not catch up until just as he was entering the front 
door of his home. Then I aimed straight for his coat tails, but he 
shut the door with a bang, catching my horns between it and the jamb ; 
then he pushed with all his might and main from the inside, while I 
too pushed with all my strength from the outside, hoping to splinter 
the panel of the door, but instead, I broke my horn, and that is how 
I lost it and why I owe him a grudge.” 

In the back yard of the engine-house stood a pump with a tub 
of water under its spout. Billy Jr. went to get a drink from it and, 
while quenching his thirst, heard one of the firemen say to two 
others standing in the yard, “I’ll bet you can’t do it, though every 
one knows he needs it badly enough.” 

“Oh, it’s easy enough to wash him,” they answered, “the diffi- 
culty will be in untying him after it is done, for then he will butt the 
life out of the first man he catches.” 

“Let’s draw cuts to decide who is to do the untying,” said a third. 

“All right,” they answered; and before Billy even suspected 
what they were talking about, he found himself bound and tied to 
the pump so that he could only move his head slightly. 


( 66 ) 


Billy Jr. and the Firemen. 


“So, it was me they were talking about,” thought poor Billy. 
“Had I only known, they would have had a fine time catching me, 
and more than one man would have had bruises and torn clothes.” 

“Gee whiz!” he thought a moment later, “but this water is cold 
that they are pumping upon me, and won’t I get even with them all 
when I get loose!” 

“Ouch!” cried one of the men, for Billy suddenly tossed his head 
giving him a bump on the nose. Then two of the men began to use 
brushes, one on each side, while a third kept the pump going; so, 
squirm and wriggle as he might, Billy got a generous supply of 
water and was drenched and shivering in spite of his efforts to free 
himself. 

At last the firemen thought he was clean enough and they 
stopped scrubbing, while one of them said, “Well, Billy Jr., how do 
you find yourself?” Billy glared at him and shook his head in an- 
swer, but there was murder in his eye. 

Next the men drew cuts to decide who should untie him and, 
strangely enough, it fell to the lot of the fireman who was always 
cracking his whip at Billy and tormenting old One-horn. When 
this man found that he was to untie Billy, he said, “Very well, boys, 
you all get inside of the engine-house and shut the big door, leaving 
the little one open for me to run through, but be sure to shut it 

(67) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


quickly behind me or Billy will be inside as quickly as I am.” 

“All right,” they answered, and away they went to do as bidden. 
Then the fireman who \vas to do the untying, approached cautiously 
and first untied Billy’s legs, leaving his head still tied to the pump; 
then with a sharp knife he cut the last cord with one swift slash and 
ran for the engine-house. Quick as he was, our Billy was not far 
behind, for with one bound he covered half the distance that lay 
between them while with another he went bang against the little door 
through which the fireman had but just disappeared. 

The door was slammed shut in double-quick time, and had 
Billy’s head not been a hard one it must surely have split in two when 
it struck the door. However, it was made to withstand hard knocks 
and so, undismayed, he backed of f to gather impetus for another rush; 
and then with a last plunge he split the door from top to bottom and 
landed in a confused heap right in the midst of the astonished fire- 
men, who scrambled in all directions with more haste than grace, 
thinking only of getting out of reach of Billy’s avenging horns. One 
man climbed up on the high seat of the fire-engine, another ran down 
cellar, while the third, the particular one Billy was after, bounded 
up the stairs that led to the firemen’s bedroom, in which was an open 
hole with a greased pole coming up through the middle for the fire- 
men to slide down when an alarm of fire was sent in. Billy was up 

( 68 ) 


Billy Jr. and the Firemen. 


the stairs and into the room almost as soon as the man himself, who 
in mad haste made a grab for the greased pole and down he went, 
leaving Billy rather doubtful as to what course to pursue; but quickly 
seeing the impossibility of a goat’s trying to slide down either a 
greased or any other kind of a pole, he bounded down the stairs again. 
The firemen had to all appearances disappeared, but Billy sniffed 
the air suspiciously and, glancing keenly first in one direction and 
then in another, he soon discovered his pet enemy seated on the hook- 
and-ladder wagon. This elevated position he wisely forebore at- 
tempting to reach and, instead, took up a position where no one 
could enter or leave the engine-house without passing him, and then 
he calmly laid himself down and waited. 

But the fates were against Billy Jr. and he was obliged to give 
up his position or get run over. Just as he got comfortably settled, 
the fire alarm rang out and each well-trained horse rushed to his 
allotted place on engine, hose-cart, or ladder-wagon. As Billy saw 
the engine speed away with his enemy holding on behind and trying 
to get into his rubber coat, he said, “I have been cheated of my re- 
venge to-day, but look out for to-morrow, you red-faced lubber,” 
and with this parting threat he trotted off to find his friend, old One- 
horn. 

Just as Billy was coming out of the engine-house he came upon 

(69) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


an old German couple leading a dainty little Nanny-goat by a string. 
Now, it had been a long time since Billy had met a pretty Nanny 
and his heart fairly thumped with joy as he pranced up to make 
friends with her, but here is where he made a mistake. In his joy 
at seeing her pretty face he had forgotten that he must needs be in- 
troduced before approaching a strange Nanny, and this young thing 
proved to be unusually timid, so when she saw a big strange Billy- 
goat running toward her as if he had known her since she was a 
baby kid, she promptly dodged behind her mistress. Billy, nothing 
daunted, followed after her. As his head appeared at one side of 
the old fat woman, Nanny’s appeared at the other, and the faster 
she ran the faster he followed. This they kept up until the poor 
woman was wound round and round by the cord, so that she could 
not move and, being equally as timid as her little charge, she at last 
fainted and fell forward on the walk, knocking Billy off of his feet 
and throwing Nanny down upon her knees. When Billy saw the 
mischief he had been the cause of, and also saw the old woman’s 
husband coming after him with a thick club, he wisely disappeared 
round the first corner, pondering in his mind over the foolishness 
of young kids in general and of this one in particular. 


Billy , the Christmas Tree, 

and the Irishwoman . 


HE night before Christmas, Billy Jr. was prowling around, 
feeling lonely and unhappy and wishing that he were back 
again with his father and mother for the holidays at least. 
Chancing to look through a window from which the light was 
streaming, what should he see but a beautiful Christmas tree! And 
more wonderful still, who do you suppose was trimming it? None 
other than old Santa Claus himself. Billy quickly stationed himself 
directly in front of the window and gazed with longing eyes upon 
the many attractive gifts being tied upon the tree. “Oh, my! Just 
wouldn’t I like to get a nibble at that big red apple hanging near 
the very top of the tree. Yes, and there is a fine cornucopia filled 
with all kinds of goodies that I could eat if I had the chance, and 
without a grain of salt, either.” But Santa Claus continued his 
work, utterly unconscious of the greedy eyes blinking at him from 
the outer darkness. 


(70 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


Presently Billy Jr. said, “I wonder whose house this is and how 
many children live here.” Almost as if in answer to his question a 
quick step sounded on the walk, and to his utter disgust, the hated 
fireman ascended the steps and entered the house with his latch key. 

“Well, I declare,” said Billy, “it’s a shame for a man like that to 
have such a lovely Christmas tree. I’ll venture to say that Santa 
Claus does not know how unkind he is to animals or he would never 
help him to trim his tree.” 

As soon as the last gift was disposed of, Santa Claus raised the 
window to keep the room cool so that the tree might not wilt, then 
he quickly put out the lights; and harkl I hear sleigh bells! Yes, 
there he goes with his reindeer over the tops of the houses. Swiftly 
and merrily he drives, stopping at every fireside to bring joy and 
some little remembrance of his good will to all. 

“Now that he has gone and the window is open, what is to hinder 
me from climbing in and tasting a few of the Christmas dainties? 
I am sure a few would not be missed and I can see my way clearly, 
as that electric light across the street shines straight into the room, 
making it as light as day. There is a packing box just under the 
window that I can jump upon, and from that I can easily get into 
the window.” So, without any more ado Billy climbed in and at 
once began to eat the dainties he had coveted. 

(72) 


Billy , the Christmas , Tree arcc? the Irishwoman. 


The first thing he took was the big red apple, then the cornu- 
copia of nuts and candies, next he licked a lemon-candy dog, after 
this he ate a popcorn ball or two, then he spied a bunch of yellow 
carrots on an upper branch. These he must have (not knowing that 
they were made of silk and to be used as a pin cushion). So he 
raised himself on his hind legs and tried to reach them, but they 
were just beyond his nose. He gave a little spring, but missed 
again, and, worse still, his feet struck the table which the tree stood 
upon and over it went, burying the luckless Billy under it, while tin 
horns, candies, toy horses, and all, rattled round him in hopeless 
confusion. The noise awoke the fireman, and he and his wife came 
hurrying into the room, thinking to find burglars. They did not see 
Billy, for as they opened the door he jumped out of the window, and 
to this day they do not know who upset the Christmas tree. 

One day when Billy was wandering idly about he saw one of 
the firemen walking across lots, carrying a bundle which he knew 
was intended for the washerwoman. Having nothing special to do, 
he followed and soon overtook him. The fireman gave him a chew 
of tobacco and was surprised to find that instead ^f spluttering, mak- 
ing a fuss, and spitting it out of his mouth, he chewed it like an old- 
timer and seemed to enjoy it, his beard going up and down in that 
queer way that men’s do when they are chewing 


Billy Whiskers Jr, 


“Well, Billy, how are you, and how has the world been using 
you since last we met? Let me see, the last time I saw you, you 
were trying to decide whether to come down a flight of stairs or 
whether to slide down a greased pole, were you not?” And with 
such pleasant converse the man and goat walked along side by side 
until they reached the washerwoman’s shanty. She was a jolly, red- 
faced Irishwoman, somewhat pie-crusty in temper, but nevertheless 
an excellent laundress, and all would have been well had not Billy 
accidentally tramped with his muddy feet on some fine clothes that 
had been spread on the grass to whiten. Seeing his footmarks upon 
the dainty pieces with which she had taken such pains, she snatched 
up a dipper of hot water and threw it at Billy, calling out as she 
did so: 

“You miserable baste, if ye come around here with your dirty 
fate again, a-spilin’ my nice, clean clothes, I’ll brake yer ugly neck 
fer ye, that I will. Bedad it’s no fun doin’ thim fine petticoats agin. 
Sure and it ain’t.” 

Our Billy Jr., having the grace to see that he was at fault, and 
that his carelessness had been the cause of making unnecessary work 
to the irate Irishwoman, meekly turned away and returned home 
without waiting for the fireman. 

The next day Billy thought he would stroll back to the washer- 

( 74 ) 


Billy, the Christmas Tree, and the Irishwoman . 


woman’s place to find out if she were still angry with him, and also 
to play some trick upon her (if he could) in return for the throwing 
of the hot water v He first peeked through a crack in the fence to 
see if she were hanging out clothes, but not seeing her, he crawled 
through a hole where some boards had fallen down and, keeping a 
sharp lookout about him, he caught sight of her coming from the 
kitchen. He kept out of sight until she disappeared within a neigh- 
bor’s house, then he walked straight to the kitchen door, stuck his head 
inside and, as no one was about, he boldly walked in to see if he 
could find what it was smelt so good. He had not far to look, for 
just before him stood a table, and on it was placed the mid-day meal 
which the washerwoman had prepared for her husband. 

“My, but it smells good and I am as hungry as a bear,” and 
Billy, without a twinge of conscience, helped himself to the nice, 
mealy potatoes, cabbage and cornbeef, and the bread, even licking 
the crumbs from the plate, and leaving only the empty dishes for the 
poor hungry husband. 

Just as he was taking a last reluctant lick at the cabbage plate, 
he heard some one coming and, in turning quickly to escape, he upset 
a clothes-horse full of clothes so that they fell upon the stove, where 
they soon caught fire, and the flames spreading to the woodwork of 


Bitty Whiskers Jr. 

L — 

the shanty, the whole structure was in a blaze before you could say 
J ack Robinson. 

Billy escaped without even singeing a hair and started on a 
dead run down the block. When he finally turned to look back, 
flames and smoke were pouring from windows and doors, while the 
poor laundress stood in the yard wringing her hands in sore distress, 
and watching all her earthly belongings go up in smoke. 

“It’s too bad,” said Billy; “I did not mean to burn her home; I 
only intended to annoy her and eat her husband’s dinner; but, never 
mind, there go the firemen to the rescue. They will soon put out 
the flames,” and with a whisk of his tail Billy ran off to look for more 
mischief. 

Billy was growing tired of the location in which he lived, so he 
decided to leave the firemen and seek a more fashionable quarter of 
the city, consequently he selected Knob Hill as being quite to his 
liking. When the firemen went to feed Billy, one morning, he was 
nowhere in sight. They whistled again and again, but there was no 
response. He came neither to luncheon nor to supper, but the men 
thought nothing of this, as he often absented himself for a day or 
two at a time, but when three, four, five, and six days passed and 
still Billy did not make his appearance, they felt sure that he had 
been stolen or had wandered off and been shut up in some barn. 

(76) 


Billy , the Christmas Tree , and the Irishwoman. 


They waited a day or two and finally advertised for him by nailing 
up a large red poster illustrated with a handsome black goat, and 
offering a liberal reward for his return or for information as to his 
whereabouts. 

Billy laughed way down in his whiskers when he saw the gor- 
geous poster and the representation of himself, and then he walked 
up and tore it off the boards. But while in the act of doing this he 
was recognized by a lot of boys as the goat advertised for, and they 
quickly pursued him, hoping to claim the reward offered. Need 
we say that before they had finished with Billy they wondered who 
in the world could want such a goat? As for themselves, they would 
have been glad to pay to get rid of him. 

Two boys finally got a rope around his neck and thought them- 
selves wonderfully smart for doing so, but they little dreamed that 
our Billy had allowed them to do it for a purpose of his own. As 
soon as the rope was securely tied and the boys had a tight hold of 
the ends, he started, and now the fun began. 

Billy was a sturdy fellow, possessed of a certain grim sense of 
humor, so in a seemingly guileless, innocent manner he lowered his 
head and trotted along at a steady gait, choosing all the rough, stub- 
bly places in the road, never missing a mud-hole, never passing an 
ash heap; through the one, over the other he went, dragging the 


(77) 


— . — 

Billy Whiskers Jr. 


boys after him, and when they attempted to hold him back or to 
stop him, he simply quickened his pace and went flying through 
narrow alleys, over and amongst heaps of rubbish, jerking them to 
their feet at times, or upsetting them with scant ceremony, as the 
case might be, so that finally rope and boys became hopelessly entan- 
gled, and the boys could not let go if they would, but were completely 
at Billy’s mercy. But, at last, the rope got twisted around a lamp- 
post and then it broke, giving the boys their liberty very suddenly. 
By this time they had lost all thought or desire for a reward and 
Billy left them with a satisfied twinkle in his eye and a subtle smile 
wtdl hidden under his long whiskers. 



(78) 


Billy Jr. Has Some 

J^ew Experiences. 


N his way back to Knob Hill, Billy passed a magnificent 
mansion with shades down and the gas lighted inside. 

“Now, what in the world is the matter with the people 
who live there?” he mused; “are they lunatics that they close the 
curtains, shut out the sunshine, and then light the gas at three o’clock 
in the afternoon? And what is that long tunnel-like, canopied pas- 
sage that extends from the curbing to the front door? I believe they 
call it an awning. It is not raining, what do they want it for? I 
must get nearer and see about it.” So Billy walked to the side open- 
ing in the awning and looked in. The front door of the house was 
wide open and he could hear the strains of a mandolin orchestra 
from within, while the perfume from many flowers was wafted to 
his nostrils. Not a person was in sight. 

“How strange,” thought Billy, “to leave a front door wide open 
and no one to watch it! Guess I will walk up and see how it looks 


( 79 ) 



Billy Whiskers Jr. 


inside.” Accordingly he walked bravely up to the door and looked in. 

Such gorgeousness he had never even dreamed of. There were 
flowers and palms in bewildering profusion. There were draperies 
and furniture of Oriental magnificence, and hundreds of electric 
bulbs with shades of varied colorings which lit up the scene, while 
soft, dreamy music made one feel as if he were indeed in fairyland. 
As in a dream Billy walked up the broad flight of stairs leading to 
the second floor and from the first room to the right he could hear 
voices and subdued laughter, while from an adjoining room came 
the admonition, “Girls, stop chattering and finish dressing, for your 
guests will soon be here.” Then Billy knew that an afternoon recep- 
tion was to be held here and that was why the shades were drawn 
and the gas lighted; for it is not fashionable to have sunlight at these 
affairs. Complexions and gowns look better by gaslight. 

When Billy heard the voices, he turned and walked into the 
front room. This apartment was furnished in keeping with the mag- 
nificence of the parlor floor. White woodwork, mahogany chairs 
and table, a high four-poster bed with satin and lace coverings, silver 
toilet articles on the dresser, silver and cut glass vases everywhere 
filled with pink roses and white hyacinths, and again, a multitude 
of soft-tinted lights which enhanced the beauty of everything the eye 
rested upon. 


( 80 ) 



Billy Gave One Leap which Carried Him ahead of the Dog. 






Billy Jr. Has Some New Experiences . 


“The scent of the flowers reminds me of the clover in the 
meadows. I must have a taste of them.” So Billy tasted and then 
ate one entire bouquet, for the flavor was so fine he could not stop at 
one bite. Then, beginning to feel the effects of his wearisome esca- 
pade with the boys, and lulled by the warmth, light, perfume, and 
music surrounding him, he jumped up in the middle of the beautiful 
bed, and stretched himself out on the exquisite pink satin and lace 
coverlet preparatory to enjoying a good rest. Nothing was too good 
for the use of Billy Jr. 

When the first guests entered the room they scarcely glanced at 
the bed, going first to the mirror to adjust their hair and repowder 
their noses. Suddenly, one of the ladies dropped the comb with a 
clatter, her eyes nearly dropping from their sockets and her face 
blanched with surprise and fear, for, reflected in the mirror, she 
saw two long horns suddenly raised from what she had supposed to 
be a black fur coat, and, screaming at the top of her voice, she turned 
and stood staring with open-eyed wonder at the sight before her. 
Her screams brought the entire household scrambling to the scene. 
She could not explain but dropped into a chair, completely over- 
come. Words, however, were needless, for there stood Billy in the 
middle of the great four-poster, self-convicted, and quite as surprised 
as any of the onlookers. For a moment he did not know which way 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 



to turn, but finally, 
seeing a door oppo- 
site the one in which 
the people all stood, 
he jumped for that 
and from there made 
his escape into a 
small room which 
connected with the 
hall. Down the 
steps he went, upset- 
ting the fat butler 
with whom he came 
in contact on his way 
down and, without 
pausing to offer his 
apologies, hastened 
into the street and 
hurriedly left me 


neighborhood. 

The goat episode was the main topic of conversation that after- 
noon among the fair five hundred, and Billy would have been flattered 



Billy Jr. Has Some A[ew Experiences. 


could he have heard himself described as “fierce-looking as a lion and 
as large as a bear.” 

After Billy J r. left the house where the reception was being held, 
he wandered around not knowing where to go. He began to feel lone- 
some and hungry and almost wished he had stayed with the firemen 
and old One-horn, even if his life with them was a monotonous one. 

Presently, all thought of lonesomeness and hunger was driven 
from his mind by the sight of some boys coming around the corner 
whipping a large St. Bernard dog that was hitched to a little cart. 
When they saw Billy, they cried ; 

“Oh, see the dandy goat. Let’s catch him and hitch him up to 
your cart, Ned, and have a race. What do you say, is it a go?” 

“You had better let them catch you, stranger,” barked the dog, 
“or they will club and beat you when they do get you.” 

“Not until I have given them a chase,” bleated the goat, and with 
that he stood as if he were going to be an easy catch, until they tried 
to put their hands on him. Then he stood on his hind legs and whirled 
round and round like a circus-goat, facing them all the time between 
the whirls, so the boys did not know how to get hold of him in this 
position, besides they were afraid he would butt or kick them. 

All this pleased the dog immensely and he laughed until his sides 
shook. Presently, Billy Jr. heard cart-wheels on the sidewalk and 

(83) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


he knew Ned was returning with his cart. As the boy approached, 
Billy Jr. converted his hind legs, which he had been using as stilts, 
into kickers. Then with a bleat that meant “Oh, no you don’t,” he 
jumped over the low iron fence beside which he was standing and 
disappeared round the corner of a big brown-stone house that stood 
in the middle of a large yard, while, of course, all the boys came tag- 
ging after. Hero, the St. Bernard dog, forgetting the wagon he was 
hitched to, jumped too, breaking loose as he went over the fence. 

As Billy rounded the corner of the house, he ran into the laun- 
dress, who was carrying in her arms a big basket of clothes piled so 
high that she could not see what hit her, until she found herself flat 
on the ground with her basket overturned beside her. 

“Now, see what yees have done wid yer ugly black goat a-goin’ 
and upsetting all me clane clothes, and the missis that particular as 
never was. Bad luck to yez. Take him away,” she called, as she 
saw Billy coming toward her again. Billy expected to run round the 
house and come out on the street, but he was unable to do so, as the 
opposite side of the yard was enclosed by a high fence which he could 
not jump; and here the boys cornered him. Fie was going to butt 
them and get away, but the St Bernard barked to him to let himseli 
be caught aad then they oould have a raoe and see which could run 
the faster. 


(84) 


[ 


Billy Jr. Has Some New Experiences. 


When Hero proposed this he, of course, thought he could beat 
Billy and not half try, or he would not have suggested it. Billy Jr., 
on the other hand, was sure he could beat Hero, so he let himself be 
caught and led into the front yard where he was soon hitched to Ned’s 
cart, while Hero was re-harnessed and hitched to another by Will, 
his master. 

Soon the dog and goat were ready for the race and they were led 
into the middle of the street, Ned and Will each in their respective 
carts, and the other boys standing around ready to follow them when 
they started. A boy stood at the head of each animal, letting go when 
the word was given. Both the goat and the dog started at such a pace 
that the boys lost their hats and came near being thrown back- 
wards out of their carts. Billy gave one leap which carried him 
ahead of the dog and jerked the cart along on its back wheels. Away 
down the street they sped, dodging wagons whose drivers stopped and 
stuck their heads out at the sides to see the fun. Hero, who was fat 
and short winded, seeing that he would have to do his best, ran with his 
tongue hanging out of his mouth, panting for breath, while Billy Jr., 
who was slender and in fine condition, closed his mouth and ran 
swiftly as an antelope, coming out way ahead. 

“Hurrah for you, Billy! I shall take you home with me and 
keep you, for I consider you a good friend and you shall have the best 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


supper you have had in a long while.” Billy Jr. bleated his thanks 
and added that it could not be given to him any too quickly, as he was 
both hungry and thirsty. “Before I go I want to tell Hero that I 
would like to have another race with him some other day when he is 
in better trim, for I beat him too easily this time.” 

Hero thought Billy was bragging about his victory, so he said 
the reason he had not beaten was because his collar was so tight that 
he could not get his breath. “Besides,” he added. “Will is much 
heavier than Ned.” 

“Oh, if you think that is the reason,” said Billy Jr., “come out 
to-morrow and I will run you a race without any carts for a couple of 
miles instead of one, and then we shall see who will win.” 

This was all the conversation they had, for Ned led Billy off, 
fearing the other boys might want to take him away from him. They 
said he had no more right to the goat than they had, as he was evi- 
dently a stray goat. 

“That’s all right,” said Ned, “but none of you fellows have a 
wagon, so I guess I will keep Billy until his owner turns up and claims 
him, and I am ready to fight the first boy who meddles or tries to take 
him away from me.” This settled the matter, for Ned could whip 
any of the boys in that gang. 

Billy Jr. stayed with Ned for about a week and every day they 

( 86 ) 


Billy Jr. Has Some New Experiences. 


had a race, or the boys played they were firemen and harnessed Billy 
to their hook-and-ladder wagon and made him pull it to where they 
played the fire was. After a day or two, Billy thought this was too 
much like work; there was no fun in it for him, besides Hero would 
not speak to him since he had beaten him in every race they had run, 
so he decided to go away and look for another home. 

It was three nights after this before he found a chance to slip out, 
as he was shut in the stable every night in one of the box stalls. This 
night the coachman forgot to latch the sliding door to his stall, so when 
the man went to supper Billy pushed it open and slipped out into the 
coach-house where, as luck would have it, he found the door open into 
the alley, and out of it he went, not stopping or turning around until 
he reached the stable where Hero lived. He would not have stopped 
here, but Hero smelled goat as he passed and barked to Billy, “Is that 
you, Billy Jr., out at this time of the night? You must be running 
away.” 

“You are right, I am running away and I’m never coming back, 
so good-bye, Hero; when I see you again I expect you can beat me, 
for by that time I shall be so old that any dog can do so.” 

“You impudent goat, I shall not wish you good luck after that 
remark.” 

Billy, chancing to look back down the alley, thought he saw a 

(87) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


boy running in his direction and, for fear it might be Ned, he hurried 
on and turned out of the alley into the first street he came to. He had 
gone but a few feet when he saw one of the boys that always played 
with Ned coming in his direction, so he dodged into the next alley 
and hid behind a garbage box until the boy had crossed out of sight, 
then he came out and began to look for some friendly stable that he 
could enter. It was beginning to storm and soon the rain came down 
in torrents. Vivid lightning flashes were followed by loud rumblings 
of thunder, and although Billy was a hardy goat, still he was deathly 
afraid of thunder storms. He quickened his pace, passing stable after 
stable, but all were closed to keep out the rain and not even a back 
yard gate was open so he could run in and get under a wood-shed or 
porch. 

It grew darker and darker each moment; the lightning became 
more frequent and more vivid, until poor Billy was all in a tremble. 
Suddenly he spied an over-turned packing box lying close to a stable, 
with just room enough for him to squeeze in between. “Well, this 
is better than nothing,” he thought, so he squeezed himself in and 
was about to lie down when he heard a low growl, and the next flash 
of lightning revealed to him another occupant of the box — a little 
yellow dog with a stubby tail and blazing eyes. 


( 88 ) 


Billy and Stubby. 


[ W |ELL, what are you doing here?” said Billy. 
jgJSSg] “That is the question I was about to ask you,” replied the 
dog. 

“I came in to get out of the rain because all the other places were 
shut,” said Billy Jr. 

“And I came here because I live here. This is the only home I 
know,” answered the dog. 

“Oh, if that is the case I will be going, as I do not wish to in- 
trude.” 


“You are perfectly welcome to stay and share the shelter of my 
home, poor as it is,” said the dog, whose name was Stubby. 

“You are exceedingly kind,” replied Billy. “I will gladly stay 
if only for your company. I hate being out alone in a thunder storm.” 

After this they became very well acquainted and prolonged their 
talk far into the night, exchanging confidences and experiences. 

(89) 




Billy Whiskers Jr. 



As you all know Billy’s history, I will not repeat what he told 
the dog, but will confine myself to the sad story of Stubby’s life. 

Stubby was undoubtedly of common parentage with not a drop 
of blue blood in his veins, but he had plenty of good red blood, so he 

did not care, only he often 
thought it would be very 
nice to be petted and fed as 
thoroughbreds were. This 
wish, however, only came 
on days when he had noth- 
ing to eat but a piece of 
mouldy bread from the 
garbage box and nothing to 
drink but water out of a 
mud puddle. On other 
days he would not exchange 
his lot for that of a King 
Charles lying on a satin cushion on my lady’s lap, for what did the 
King Charles know of real life or freedom, shut up in my lady’s 
boudoir, or taken for a walk at the end of a silver chain? 

No, he would not change his free, roving life and home in a 
packing box for all the satin cushions in the world He felt that he 


Billy Jr. and Stubby. 


should sicken and die shut up in a home, fed on bonbons, and only 
allowed to run to the length of a short chain. To be sure it must be 
nice to have for a mistress a pretty lady who would stroke you with 
her soft white hand, or a sweet litle girl to romp and play with, but 
one could not have these joys without the evils of being shut up in 
an overheated house, and that he knew he could not stand. 

He had been born under a barn standing in the suburbs of San 
Francisco. His father he had never seen and his mother was a small 
yellow dog like himself, only she had a tail that curled in a beautiful 
manner once and a half times round, of which she was very proud. 
His tail had curled in this same way until some bad boys caught 
him and cut it off. 

“Oh, I tell you, Master Billy, you don’t know what it is to knock 
around the world and be only a poor little yellow cur that every one 
delights to kick and stone, although he has done nothing but mind 
his own business. You see, though you have traveled a great deal 
and seen more of the world than I have, still you have not bucked up 
against its cruel side as I have. One reason is because you are so big 
and so strong that people dare not hurt you, while as for me, I have 
been so small and so homely that any bad boy or man could be cruel 
to me and not be afraid of getting hurt for it. 

“I had had my eyes open only for a few days when my mother 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


told my brothers and sisters and me that if we wanted to get on in 
the world we must not look for justice, or bite when we were abused, 
and she said that we must endure all things, be patient and return 
good for evil. I remember this talk distinctly because it was the 
last we ever had with her, for the very next day a boy crawled under 
the barn and took all my brothers and sisters and myself in a basket 
and carried us to the river bank, where he tied a stone to each of our 
necks and then threw us into the water to drown. Somehow, he did 
not tie my string tight enough, and when he threw me into the river 
the weight of the stone untied the string and let me loose, so when I 
reached the bottom, instead of staying down like my brothers and 
sisters, I came to the surface and then swam ashore. I never knew 
I could swim until I found myself in the river, and then, instinc- 
tively, I struck out as if I had been swimming all my life, just as all 
animals do when thrown into the water for the first time. 

“When I reached the shore the boy had gone, for when he saw 
us disappear under the water he thought we would never come up. 
I rested on the bank in the sun until I got dry, quietly crying for my 
kind little mother, for I knew I never could find my way back to her. 
I saw a house a short distance away with a barn and barnyard at the 
back, so I crept under the fence into the back yard and went to sleep 
beside a straw-stack. For supper I had only a little milk that I 

( 92) 


Billy Jr. and Stubby. 


lapped up from the ground where the girl had spilled it when milk- 
ing. Of course I got more dirt than milk, but I was afraid to go 
nearer to the house for fear of being abused. 

“The next morning the hired girl came out to milk the cow 
and I made up my mind I would try to make friends with her, so I 
commenced by giving a little low bark to attract her attention as she 
sat milking. She turned around quickly and said, ‘My goodness, 
how you scared me! Where did you come from, you poor forlorn 
little thing?’ 

“Her voice reassured me, so I ran straight up to her and she 
patted me and said, ‘There, don’t look so frightened, no one is going 
to hurt you.’ When she went to the house she called to me to follow 
her, which I was very glad to do, and she gave me a saucer of nice, 
warm milk, which I was very much in need of, being both cold and 
hungry. 

“Well, from that day until I was stolen by a tin peddler, I 
stayed there and was petted and fed as if I had been a dog with the 
bluest of blue blood in my veins. But what a life I had of it with 
that lying, cheating tinker, until he at last sold me for five dollars 
to a young lady who had taken a fancy to me, mostly from pity, I 
think. From this lady I learned many tricks and was dressed in a 
blue blanket and tied with blue ribbons, which I tried to lose off or 


( 93 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


else rolled in the mud with, every chance I got. Some boys stole 
me from her, finally, and they cut off my beautiful curly tail, the 
only thing about me that was beautiful, although the young lady 
used to say, ‘Stubby, you have the loveliest eyes I ever saw in a dog’s 
head. They certainly look as if you had a human soul, and you 
make me wonder what you are thinking about.’ 

“After the boys stole me, my luck went from bad to worse until 
1 had to hide in the daytime and only look for food at night. I was 
stoned and kicked so that at last I gave up trying to find a good 
master or mistress and I hid in alleys, sometimes sleeping out in the 
rain and cold without any shelter but the sky or anything softer than 
a board to sleep on, so when this old packing box was thrown out 
into the alley I hailed it with delight and have lived in it ever since. 

“You see my story is only a pitifully uninteresting tale beside 
your life history.” 

“Forget the past,” said Billy Jr. “That is gone, and in the 
future we will live together and see what good we can get out of life. 
What do you say to leaving the city and going out into the country? 
It is much cleaner there, while there is less chance of being abused 
or of getting shut up where we won’t be free to come and go as we 
please.” 


( 94) 


Billy Jr. and Stubby. 


“Very well,” said Stubby, “I am longing to get into the country 
once again. What direction shall we take?” 

“South,” replied Billy Jr. “Let us try to find our way to Old 
Mexico, where it is nice and warm the year round.” 

“That is a splendid idea,” said Stubby. “I, too, am tired of the 
cold.” 

“It is too bad that dogs can’t live on grass and the things that 
goats can, for then you would not have to go hungry so often. I 
believe I could live on old shoes and straw if I could find nothing 
else to eat, although I don’t say I should relish them much,” said 
Billy. 

“Oh, I can live on very little, so don’t worry about me,” said 
Stubby. 

At the first peep of dawr. the two friends left the old packing 
box and started on their long journey to Old Mexico. 



( 95 ) 


Small Adventures. 


IX months later we find Billy Jr. and Stubby near the City 
of Mexico, on. a large stock-farm, where are raised fierce, 
blooded bulls intended for the bull-fights that take place 
every Sunday in the City. 

It would take too long to tell of all the troubles and mishaps the 
two friends met with on their long journey from San Francisco to 
Old Mexico, but with all their trials they enjoyed it, for both were 
good travelers and made the best of things without complaining 
when matters could not be helped. 

Once Stubby came very near getting drowned in a fierce moun- 
tain stream that had become swollen from recent rains until it was 
twice its usual size. Caught in one of the whirling eddies, he was 
spun round and round until, dizzy and sick, he could not open his 
eyes, and had not strength enough left to swim against the strong, 
swift current. He was just giving up hope when he felt some large 




Small Adventures. 


object strike his side and, opening his eyes for an instant, he saw 
Billy Jr., who swam out to rescue him. 

“Climb on m) back, 
Stub,” Billy cried, ‘and I 
will swim to shore with 
you.” Stubby did as he was 
bidden and soon thry were 
shaking themselves dry on 
the bank. 

Another mishap, one 
in which Stubby wa* the 
hero and saved Bill} Jr.’s 
life, occurred one moon- 
light night out on thtf 
plains. They were both 
sound asleep when Stubby was suddenly awakened by hearing ? 
peculiar rattling sound and, looking about, he was horrified to sec 
a snake just ready to spring upon Billy, who was sleeping peace- 
fully. With a bound, Stubby had the reptile by the neck and in a 
second had shaken him to death. In fact, he had given him such a 
crack that the snake’s head nearly flew off. Small dogs have often 
been known to kill snakes in this way. Billy Jr. was very much 



( 97) 


Billy Whiskers Jr . 


surprised when he awoke and saw a big snake lying under his very 
nose. Stubby had dragged it there to see what Billy would do 
when he saw it. Had it been alive Billy would surely have been 
bitten, for he was too much surprised to move. He stared at it 
with blinking eyes to see if his sight was not deceiving him. When 
he discovered that it was really a snake he ducked his head and 
hooked it away, 

“Did you see that rattlesnake, Stubby? I had a pretty close 
call, didn’t I?” 

“Not so very,” said Stubby, “for dead snakes do not bite.’' 

“That was no dead snake, for it was not there when I laid down, 
and dead snakes do not crawl.” 

“You are right there, Billy Jr., but that snake was dead and I 
ought to know, for I killed it and dragged it there just to scare you.” 

“Oh, you did, did you? and where did you find it?” 

“I found it about three feet from your head ready to spring upon 
you, so I made a spring first and killed it before it had time to bite 
you. After I killed it I put it under your nose for fun.” 

“You are a brick, Stubby, that is what you are; a regular gold 
brick, and I will not forget this in a hurry. I hope some day I shall 
have a chance to do you a good turn or save your life.” 


(98) 


Small Adventures . 


“Well, don’t lay awake nights trying to think of some way to 
help me, for you have already saved my life once, when you pulled 
me out of the whirlpool,” said Stubby. 

One day when they were trotting along the foot hills of the 
Sierra Madre mountains, tired and footsore, hungry and cold, feeling 
thoroughly discouraged and as if they should never reach their desti- 
nation, they thought they saw a curl of blue smoke rising from the 
base of one of the foot hills in among some tall cacti. 

“Look, Billy, look,” cried Stubby, who had been the first to see 
it; “that smoke means some man is building a fire to cook his supper 
by. I have seen a little curl of smoke like that before and it always 
means that, at this time of the day. Let’s go and see if he won’t share 
with us. I am so hungry for a piece of meat I feel as if I could 
almost kill some one, if I had to, to get it, and I am so thin, I am 
sure if you listened you could hear my ribs rattle. Raw prairie-dog 
meat and roots are not very filling food for a dog, and I feel as if 
the only thing I had had to eat since we left Frisco was those ground 
bird eggs I sucked a week ago. You did not like them and said they 
were too stale and that if I waited half an hour they would hatch 
out and I could then have birds instead of eggs. You must be just 
as hungry, for buffalo grass may sustain life but it is dry stuff to eat, 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


while the cacti leaves are juicy enough to eat, but the thorns on their 
edges run into one’s nose and mouth and make them bleed.” 

While Stubby had been doing all this talking, they had cau- 
tiously approached the spot where they had seen the smoke rising 
and soon the delicious odor of juicy steak was wafted to their nostrils 
by the evening breeze. 

“Oh, BUly, do you smell that steak? Don’t it smell better than 
anything you ever smelt in your life before?” 

“Well, to tell you the truth, I would prefer carrots or turnips. 
You forget I am not a meat eater. I am a vegetarian, but for all 
that I can appreciate your feelings. Look between those two tall 
cacti. There is an Indian as sure as I am alive!” said Billy. 

“By the Great Black Bear!” said Stubby, “you are right and I 
see my finish, for if I go nosing around here, they will catch me and 
make soup of me in a twinkling.” 

“Have no fear, Stubby. I know the Indians well. They are 
fond of dogs and they never kill and eat them unless they are starv- 
ing. There is no danger of that now, for from the smell of cooking 
meat which we get, they have evidently stolen a stray cow or steer 
from some herd and are now cooking it whole over a camp-fire for the 
entire band. There is too strong a smell to emanate from a small 

( too ) 



In the very Center Stood Little Duke. 



Small Adventures. 


piece, so if I am right you are in luck, and likely to have your fill 
before the night is over. They only eat the best part of the animal 
and throw the rest to their dogs.” 

This proved to be the case and after the Indians had eaten their 
fill, they rolled themselves in their blankets and went to sleep. Billy 
and Stubby sneaked about and found the dogs at the feast. At first 
these dogs were going to protest, but Billy called to them, “The first 
one of you that yelps or objects to our helping ourselves I will rip 
open with my horns.” As he looked big and fierce enough to carry 
out this threat, they thought he meant what he said and so let him 
and Stubby alone and fell to eating in silence. 

“Now, go ahead, Stubby, and eat your fill, while I wander 
around and see if I can’t find some sweet herbs, for the squaws gen- 
erally have a lot hanging outside of their wigwams drying, along 
with sweet grass and onions. Oh, the very thought of onions makes 
my mouth water! so good-bye for awhile, but if you should want me, 
give the signal by three short barks.” 

The next morning the Indians were delighted to find a large 
black goat and a smart, little yellow dog. They camped here for 
some time, making baskets and blankets, and then started on their 
way to the City of Mexico to sell their wares. Billy and Stubby 

( ioi ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


stayed with them until they passed the stock-farm before mentioned 
in this chapter, and then they left, made friends with the people on 
the farm, and became a fixture there for some time. 

They had been on this farm three months when the incident I 
am about to relate happened. 



( 102 ) 


The Midnight Fire . 


N THIS farm were large barns where the blooded horses 
and bulls were housed at night, each in his own stall, and 
over all were great hay mows where the hay and feed for 
them were kept. 

Billy was fastened in one of these stalls every night, because 
previous to this he had eaten all the blossoms off the lemon tree, which 
was the pride of the mistress; chewed the bosom out of his master’s 
dress shirts for the starch that was in them; nibbled the trailing vines 
off the hanging baskets on the front veranda; and chewed the sleeve 
out of the cook’s new red calico wrapper that was hanging on a line 
outside to dry. Stubby, however, was allowed to rove around at will, 
but he always preferred to be locked up with Billy, as it was so lone- 
some when left alone outside. 

As luck would have it, on the night of the fire he preferred to 
remain outside to gnaw on some bones he had hidden and to have a 
talk with a little hairless Chihuahua dog that lived on the farm. 


( 103 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


Had it not been for this, Billy might have been burned to death and 
this story brought to an untimely end, besides Stubby would have 
lost the chance of making himself a hero. 

It was near midnight. His feast and chat with the Chihuahua 
dog were over and he was lying asleep just outside of Billy’s stall. 
Suddenly he was awakened by something hot dropping on his head 
and paw. Jumping up to find out what had hurt him, he saw flames 
pouring out of the open windows of the hayloft, and as he looked the 
frightened faces of two tramps appeared at the windows and then 
disappeared, only to reappear at another window where there was 
less fire. This window they climbed into and stood prepared to 
jump, but hesitated before taking the risk from that height, until 
the flames drove them off and they half jumped, half fell, to the yard 
below, where they dropped uninjured upon a pile of straw. They 
had scarcely landed when Stubby was after them, barking and biting 
at their legs, while they took to their heels in double-quick time, glad 
to get off the premises. Stubby did not follow them, for he knew 
that he must hurry back and awaken the household so some one would 
come and unlock the stall door where his beloved Billy was fastened. 
He ran back, to the barn and commenced to bark, telling Billy that 
the barn was on fire. 

“I knew it, Stubby. I have been smelling fire and smoke for 


( i°4) 


The Midnight Fire . 


the last half hour, but did not know where it came from. My stall 
is so dense with smoke I can’t see, and if it were not for this strong 
rope around my neck I would be out of here, for I could easily butt 
down the door, but this rope is as tough and strong as iron. I have 
been chewing it ever since I smelt the smoke, but it still holds to- 
gether. I have pulled until my neck is nearly severed from my body 
and still it won’t break or slip over my horns. The horses and cattle 
are all in a panic and are snuffing and pawing like mad.” 

“Keep. on chewing, Billy, while I run to the house after help. 
Everything is quiet there ; the night watchman sneaked to the city 
when every one went to bed and he has not returned, and at the house 
all are fast asleep, never suspecting that their property is being de- 
stroyed and their cattle in danger of cremation. Oh, why did the 
watchman leave his postl” And Stubby literally flew to the house and 
barked and barked, jumpingagainst the door to make more noise and 
callingto thelittle Chihuahua dogto help arouse the sleeping inmates. 

Every minute the flames rose higher and higher and the blazing 
building lit up the landscape for miles around. But the inmates slept 
serenely. Stubby ran to the back of the house and upset a lot of 
milk pails, knowing they would make a terrible clatter as they rolled 
about on the stones, then back again he ran to his master’s door, 
growling as before. At last a sleepy voice called out: 

( I°S ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr, 


“If you are after a cat, let her alone and lie down; don’t arouse 
the whole household with your noisy barking.” 

“At last I have awakened some one,” said Stubby, “and I shall 
make more noise than ever,” so he ran toward the barn and back 
again, barking furiously all the time, so that his master would know 
something was wrong there, then he again went to the door and 
growled and whined. 

“There must be something the matter or Stubby would not make 
such a fuss,” said his master to his wife. “I’ll just get up and look 
out of the window,” and as he raised the window shade the whole 
room was flooded with the red glare of fire. 

“My God ! wife, the barn is on fire and I have been lying here 
like a log while that noble dog has been trying to awaken me, and I 
trying to drive him off, thinking he was chasing cats l” 

Stubby’s master only waited to step into a pair of trousers and 
slippers before he followed Stubby on flying feet to the barn, just 
stopping long enough on the way to ring the alarm bell that hung 
on a high pole and could be heard all over the farm. Thij unusual 
sound in the dead of night awoke all of the farm-hands, and they 
came running along as fast as their feet could carry them, rubbing 
their sleepy eyes, wondering what danger menaced them, for this 
bell was never to be rung except in case of fire or danger. 


( 106 ) 


The Midnight Fire. 


One glance at the blazing bam drove all sleep from their eyes 
and they rushed toward the fire; their one thought being to save the 
horses and bulls; the bulls that were to fight in to-morrow’s fight 
and which had been reared and fatted for this express purpose. Apart 
from the great financial loss, it would spoil to-morrow’s sport for 
thousands and thousands of Spaniards and Mexicans who were anx- 
iously awaiting the great event. These men, being Mexicans, did 
not think it cruel to sacrifice bulls and horses and men even in these 
fights, which are national affairs; but we think if the poor animals 
knew what was awaiting them on the morrow, they would not have 
tried so frantically to escape death by fire. 

As Stubby and his master were approaching the barn, one end of 
the roof fell in — that end where Billy’s stall was, and on seeing this 
Stubby gave a howl of despair; but the next second was blinking to 
see if his eyes were not deceiving him, for who should come out of the 
stall door with a bound but Billy I The goat had at last succeeded 
in chewing his rope in two, and, that done, it was an easy matter to 
butt down the door. Better yet, the bulls, seeing this opening, had 
broken out of their stalls and were following Billy. The roof had 
caught on some strong cross-beams and had not fallen on the cattle in 
the stalls. 


( 107) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 



Soon all the bulls were 
out, but to get the horses out 
was another matter, for, as 
you know, horses will re- 
main in a burning building 
in spite of everything, un- 
less you can cover their 
heads and lead them out, 
and even then it is a hard 
matter to get them 
to stay out. With the 
help of all hands, 
however, they suc- 
ceeded in saving the 
horses, but none too 
soon, for as the last 
one was led out, the 
whole barn crushed 
in and a few minutes 
more was nothing 
but a red 
heap of burn- 


( i°8 ) 


The Midnight Fire. 



ing timbers. Stubby’s master was so thankful for the escape of his 
expensive horses and valuable bulls that he did not give the loss of 
the barn a second thought, and when it was all over he called Stubby 
and said: 

“Boys, do you see this little dog? Well, if it had not been for 
him all my valuable stock would have been buried under that bed 
of burning coals and I should have been a poor man, as all my 
wealth is tied up in horses and cattle. It was he w r ho awakened 
me and gave the alarm of fire. For this he shall have a collar of 
gold with this motto inscribed upon it, ' To Stubby for saving forty 
lives this collar is affectionately dedicated by his master, Carlos 
Otero / Stubby can always wear this collar as Billy does his, telling 
of this brave deed.” 

The night watchman, hearing what had happened through his 
neglect, never came back, as he was too ashamed and afraid to face 
his master. 

Every one wondered how the barn caught on fire; some thought 
the watchman had set it on fire, others thought one of the stable 
boys had been careless about smoking and a spark from his pipe had 
set fire to the hay; but no one but Stubby really knew about the two 
tramps whose pipes had done all the mischief. 


( 109 ) 


pjMWO days after the fire all was bustle and confusion at the 
farm, for this was the day of the long anticipated bull-fight 
that was to occur in Mexico City and for which these espe- 
cial bulls had been raised and fattened. It was barely sunrise when 
the little procession started for the city; the object in starting so soon 
being to avoid the crowd of people anxious to view the bulls before 
they reached the arena. 

Billy Jr. and Stubby went along as a matter of course — they 
must see everything going — and they had no intentions whatsoever 
of missing the great fight, particularly as the odds were in favor of 
their favorite bull. Our Billy knew thoroughbreds when he saw 
them and could pick the winners. To-day’s favorite was strong of 
bone, supple of joint, solid of flesh, with a quick eye and a temper 
like a firecracker. He was handsome to look upon with his fine, 
short, glossy black coat and beautifully curved horns with tips like 
needles, that could pierce a horse’s skin and rip him open in the 
approved Mexican style. His eyes were large and brilliant and his 
nose with its sensitive nostrils as red as the cactus blossom of his 
native country. And how he could bellow and paw the ground 
when mad! Yes, Billy was sure he would win against all odds. 


( no) 



The Bull Fight 


After they reached the city, he could hear the big bull stamping 
around in his stall and bellowing for his breakfast. His royal high- 
ness was not accustomed to be kept waiting, he was always fed on 
the dot — just at sunrise, and here it was twelve o’clock and not a 
bite, not even a whisp of hay. Had his master forgotten him? What 
an outrage after his long walk in from the farm ! What in the world 
could be the meaning of such treatment? He little realized that 
he was being starved for a purpose. 

“I tell you what it is, Billy,” he grumbled, “if that crazy stable 
boy don’t bring me something to eat soon, I’ll toss him over the 
barn.” 

“Hark! what is that? I hear music. Don’t you? And the 
rumble of many feet as the crowd of people take their places in the 
amphitheatre.” 

“You are right, Billy, the band is playing; it is almost time to 
begin. Well, if I don’t get something to eat before very long I’ll 
give them some sport worthy the name when I get into the arena. 
Shut up in here, treated so badly, and starved to death — I’ll make 
somebody pay well for it.” 

“Listen,” said Billy, “they are clapping and stamping, impatient 
for the fight to begin.” 

“They can’t begin any too soon to please me,” said Little Duke, 


8 


( III ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


which was the name of Billy’s favorite bull. “There goes Black 
Jack on his way to the ring. Billy, just hear the crowd cheer and 
shout 1 He must have stepped into the arena. He is a nasty one 
to handle when he is angry. If he gets a chance to dig his horns 

into one of those tor- 


eadors or horses, the 
man in the moon pity 
them and have mer- 
cy on them, for 
Black Jack won’t! It 
will be the last fight 
that man or horse 
ever sees.” 

Bull after bull 
passed by their stall 
on their way to the 
arena, but none ever 
returned ; and the 
band played and the 
people cheered until 
at last some one came 
for Little Duke, the 



( 112 ) 


The Bull Fight 


flower of the flock. He, like the others, was led into the ring to be 
teased and tantalized, tortured and tormented until, crazy with pain 
and blind with fury, he would rip horse after horse open in his mad 
rage to get at the toreador who was goading him on with pricks from 
a long spear. And yet the blood-thirsty Mexicans yelled for more. 

But all things must come to an end; and Billy thought that it 
was high time for this oarticular fight to come to an end right here. 
He had heard a bellow of rage from Little Duke, followed by a 
groan of agony. This was too much for Billy. When a friend 
called for help he could not stay away; so with one bound he was 
out of his stall and bang! against the little door that separated him 
from the arena. This gave way with a crash, and with a rush and 
a plunge Billy bounded into the ring. 

The first thing he saw when clear of splinters and dust was a 
huge ampitheatre packed from the lowest to the highest row of 
seats with people, until the faces made a human curtain. In the 
arena lay disemboweled horses and slaughtered bulls. In the very 
center stood Little Duke, bleeding from a hundred wounds, but still 
unsubdued and defending himself nobly. There he stood with head 
erect, eyes blazing, and nostrils quivering, ready to kill the first man 
or horse that attacked him. 

In a twinkling Billy took in the situation, and before the audi- 

(ir 3 ) 


Billy Whiskers Jr . 


ence or fighters knew what had happened, Billy had tossed one torea- 
dor to one side, nearly breaking his back; had put another to flight; 
and then made straight for the horseman who had so cruelly tor- 
tured Little Duke. Just then an attendant opened a door, the man 
and horse escaped, and the ring was cleared. 

Billy, going back to see how badly Little Duke was hurt, licked 
his nose in sympathy, and told him to brace up, for the fight was over 
for that day. This pathetic scene seemed to touch even the hard 
hearts of the Mexicans. They began to bid for the ownership of 
the goat and to cheer and cheer until they could have been heard 
many blocks from the amphitheatre. 

At last Billy, perceived that he and his friend were standing 
alone in the centre of the big ring with every eye upon them. The 
next thing he noticed was that a little stubby-tailed yellow dog 
was circling round and round them, barking in great glee. The 
fight was over and Stubby had come to congratulate them. 

Here ends the great bull-fight of the ninth of May, nineteen 
hundred and four. 


The Escape. 


jN hour after the bull-fight was over, Billy and Stubby could 
have been seen running first down one street, then down 
another, then through an alley, and lastly through the sub- 
urbs, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. They were running 
away from their master and his men who were trying to drive 
them back to the farm, but Billy and Stubby decided they did not 
want to return since all their friends, the bulls, but Little Duke whose 
life Billy had saved, had been killed. 

They kept running until they were sure they could not be over- 
taken and then they stopped for breath and to decide where they 
wanted to go next. While nibbling the leaves from a bush, Billy, 
chancing to look up, saw straight ahead of him, looming up above 
trees and housetops, a high mountain out of which a column of smoke 
was curling like a black plume against the clear, blue sky. 

“Look! Stubby, see what a big bon-fire there is on that moun- 
tain.” 


“That isn’t a bon-fire” said Stubby. “That is a volcano and its 



Billy Whiskers Jr. 


name is Popocatapetl. It sounds as if they were saying, poke-a-cat- 
with-a paddle. I expect someone at sometime poked a cat with a 
paddle on that mountain and that is how it got its name, something 
after the manner of the Indians who give their children the name 
of the first thing the mother sees after they are born. I suppose the 
chiefs Blackhawk and Whitehorse got theirs in that way, as for 
Mud-in-the-face, some one must have thrown mud in the mother’s 
face at the critical moment. 

“Oh Stubby! You are too funny for anything. Where did you 
learn so much? 

“Oh! from listening to what the people were saying round me 
when I was out with my master.” 

“You are a very observing dog and it would be a good thing 
if more people followed your example, then they would learn a 
great deal even if they never went to school.” 

“How far do you suppose it is to that volcano?” asked Stubby. 

“I’m sure I don’t know. I have given up guessing distances 
in this locality or in any mountainous country. That reminds me, 
did you ever hear the story of the joke on the Englishman who came 
to Colorado Springs and started to walk to the mountains he saw 
back of the hotel, thinking he could reach them and return before 
breakfast? I know you have for every one has.” 


The Escape . 


“Go ahead and tell it. I want to hear it.” 

“These mountains proved to be over ’a hundred miles away, 
though they looked only five. So the next day when he went for a 
walk, coming to a little stream, that one could easily step over, he 
instead sat down and commenced taking off his shoes and stockings 
to the surprise of his friend who was with him who asked what he 
was doing.” 

“I was fooled on your distances yesterday, but I won’t be today. 
This may look like a narrow stream, but if I try to step over, it will 
broaden out and prove to be a river, so I’m getting ready to wade 
across.” 

This story made Stubby roll over on his back and fairly howl 
with mirth, not only because it was funny but because he had heard 
it told a hundred times and no two people had told it in the same 
way, and he wanted to hear how Billy would tell it. 

The cunning Stubby took good care not to let Billy know that 
he had ever heard the story before, for good friends as they were, 
Billy might not like to be made fun of, besides his horns were sharp. 

Stubby’s rolls and laughter were cut short by hearing a great 
clatter of horses’ hoofs on the hard road behind them. 

“Hurry and hide, Billy. It must be a party of Mexicans racing 
on their way home from the Bull-fight.” 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


Stubby was right. They were Mexican cow-boys out on a lark. 
When they saw Billy’s head sticking above the bushes, one said in 
broken Spanish, “Now for some fun,” at the same time unfastening 
his lasso from the pummel on his saddle where it always hung and 
with a twirling tongue, uttered this cry “Cha-r-r-r-ah!” He swung 
the lasso three times round his head and as he did so the loop widened 
and lengthened until with a hissing sound it descended, encircling 
Billy’s neck and the next second he was jerked over the bush he was 
hiding behind and dragged at a fast run after the cow-boy who was 
spurring his pony to catch up with those who were ahead. 

“Well! Carlos, what have you there?” called one of the boys, 
when he saw him dragging Billy behind him. 

“I’ve got a dandy billy-goat. Now you fellows see what you 
can lasso and when we get back to the ranch we will raffle off what 
we catch or cook them for supper.” 

“Good for you Carlos. That will be sport. There, I see some- 
thing now I’m going to lasso,” meaning Stubby, who was following 
after Billy as fast as he could, for he would have followed Billy into 
the jaws of death, if need be. 

Poor Stubby was very much surprised to feel a rope tighten 
around his neck and the next minute to feel himself lifted from the 
ground to the saddle hr fore the cow-boy where he was held as they 

(» 8 ) 


The Escape . 


galloped on in their mad race toward the ranch where the cow-boys 
lived. 

It is astonishing what some cow-boys can do with a lasso and 
how expert they may become in its use. 

Presently, one of the boys spied a big turkey-buzzard sitting on 
top of a cactus-plant and with a whoop like an Indian, he was after it. 

Before Mr. Buzzard had time to spread his wings and fly, he 
felt something hot twist around his neck, and the last thing he heard 
in this world was a merry laugh go up from the cow-boys at the 
idea of lassoing instead of shooting birds. 

The cow-bow was going to throw his buzzard away but the 
others told him to bring it along as every one was to show, when he 
got back, what he had caught with his lasso. 

Soon a terrible squealing was heard just ahead where one of 
the cow-boys had ridden, and when the others caught up to him 
they found he had succeeded in lassoing a brown and sandy-colored 
Pig- 

“Good for you Jake. Now we will have some roast pork and 
goat-chops for supper and we will throw the bones to the turkey- 
buzzard.” 

They did not know then that the big buzzard’s neck was broken. 

They were now so near the ranch, it began to look as though 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


some of the boys would fail to find anything to lasso, and they had 
agreed that those who had not succeeded in getting anything by the 
time they reached the ranch should clean and cook whatever had 
been caught. 

“Well, I’ll be switched if I’ll do that” said a great, tall cow- 
boy. “I’ll find something or die.” 

As he said this, his eyes detected a gray something sneaking 
away behind some rocks, so he gave chase, not knowing what it was 
going to be. When this gray object heard his pony’s hoofs on the 
stone, it got frightened and left its hiding place behind a great 
boulder and took to its heels. Whizz! went the lasso, but instead 
of catching the wolf, for that is what it was, it coiled around the 
boulder, and the wolf had several leaps and strides the advantage. 
His failure to catch the wolf the first time, only made the cow-boy 
the more determined to have it at all costs in the end, and then the 
chase began : Over the rocks, round clumps of cacti, across ditches, 
the cow-boy steadily gaining, until with one long, mighty sweep of his 
arm the lasso stretched out and fell over the gray wolf’s head and 
he was captured. 

Then like Billy, he was made to trot along behind the cow- 
boy’s pony until they came into the corral at the ranch. Once there, 
the cow-boys threw their saddles and bridles up on pegs in the stable 


( 120 ) 


The Escape . 


and turned their ponies loose in the corral with a bunch of alfalfa 
to feed on. And now for the fun of seeing the boys, who failed to 
lasso anything, clean and cook the pig and goat. A coin was tossed 
to see which should be killed first. The head stood for the goat 
and the tail for the pig. The coin was flipped and up came tail so 
it was poor piggy’s fate to be killed first. 

While two of the boys went to get a big iron kettle to boil water 
to scald him with, so they could scrape the bristles off, the others 
thought they would have some fun teasing Billy, but little did they 
suspect that their goat was the same goat they had seen that after- 
noon at the Bull-fight, clear the entire ring of horses, riders and 
toreadors, or they would not have been so anxious to tease him. 

Billy bleated to Stubby to stay near him as he was going to 
watch his chance to jump the wall of the corral and make his escape 
before they had time to kill him and cut him up into goat-chops. 

“I am going to appear very gentle until they take this lasso off 
my neck and then we will see Who is who and what is what.’ ” 

Stubby barked back “All right, I will watch you and if you get 
into a fight, I will help you by biting the legs of whoever bothers 
you.” 

“Say, Sam, that is too nice a looking goat to cut up into chops. 
I say we keep him and turn him loose with our goats on the range. 

(izi) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


Come here Mr. Billy and I will take the lasso off your neck.” He 
walked up to Billy and slipped the lasso off, giving his whiskers a 
parting pull. That settled it. Billy’s docility disappeared in a 
minute and before the cow-boy had taken a step he felt something 
sticking into him as if he had sat down on two darning needles and 



these needles were pushing farther and farther into him and urging 
him along at a fast trot until he felt a sudden boost and he found 
himself sitting on top of the corral wall, while the black goat landed 
on the other side followed by a little stubby-tailed yellow dog and 
both disappeared down a deep ravine and were lost sight of, and 
what is more, no one followed them or tried to bring them back, 

(122) 


The Volcano. 



S soon as Billy and Stubby were sure they were not being 
followed they stopped to rest and to form new plans. 

“Stubby, what in the world are you carrying in your 


mouth?” 

Dropping it so that he could answer, Stubby replied, “A nice, 
large piece of beef.” 

“Beef! Where did you get any beef, I should like to know.” 

“Well, you see I can’t live on grass and roots as you can and as 
I was pretty hungry, I took my chance of getting stoned and stole 
this piece as we ran by the smoke-house. Didn’t you notice the little 
house in the clump of bushes near the side of the corral wall?” 

“No, I did not see it, or know that you were behind me until 
just now, for you did not bark, and I expected I would have to wait 
awhile for you to join me, but now I see that you had your mouth so 
full you could not bark. You go ahead and make a good supper 
of your steak and I will make mine of these tender, green leaves.” 

As they ate they talked of their future and Billy said he was 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


getting tired of Mexico as it had too much sand, cacti and other 
stickly plants and not enough water and grass. 

“Now, I say, we get out of it as soon as we can, but how we are 
going to do that is a puzzle to me, for it seems to me the further we 
travel south from California the hotter it gets, and I say instead of 
traveling south as we have been doing, that we change our course 
and keep to the west. In that way we will come to the Pacific coast. 

“When we get there we can follow the shore until we come to 
some town or city where we can take an ocean steamer and be car- 
ried away anywhere. Who cares where? just so that we get away 
from this hot, dusty country. Besides, I am very anxious for another 
ocean voyage and always have been since Day and I came from Con- 
stantinople. 

“My! Stubby, how I should like to see my sweet little sister 
and dear father and mother again. And would it not be strange if 
we should happen to get on a ship bound for Boston? I can tell you, 
if we should have such luck I would not let the grass grow under my 
feet until I was back on the farm again.” 

“I believe you are homesick,” said Stubby. 

“You’re right I am.” 

“Well, I don’t blame you for I, too, would be homesick if I had 
ever had a home with a sister and dear parents in it, but you see I 


The Volcano . 


have never known what it was to have a home or any one to care for 
me.” 

“Just see how that old volcano is smoking now, and what a 
bright reflection it throws on the sky above it!” 

“It is due west from here. What do you say to our going to 
the top of it and seeing what a volcano really does look like at close 
range? It may te our only chance to see one for they don’t have any 
in the United States.” 

“Say we do, and perhaps, it is so high, we can see the ocean 
from its top. We shall then be able to see how far we have to travel 
before reaching the coast.” 

“That is a good idea and we will follow it out. Now let us lie 
down here and spend the night and start early in the morning before 
the sun gets too hot.” 

Ten minutes later they were both asleep with Stubby curled 
up under Billy’s nose. He always got as close to him as possible 
for company. 

It took our travelers several days to reach the volcano and its 
summit, and those days were days of hardships, with little to eat or 
drink, and both were looking tired and thin when we met them 
again within a few feet of the opening of the crater. 

“Billy, I think sight-seeing is pretty hard work, especially when 


(' 2 ?) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


you have to walk all the way and nearly die of thirst and hunger. 
These hot cinders and hardened lava are burning and cutting my 
feet all to pieces and I wish I had hoofs like yours.” 

“Well, if you wish you had my hoofs, I wish I had your short 
hair, for I am almost suffocated with my long coat, besides the air 
in this altitude is hard to breathe. One gets out of breath so easily 
and feels as if there was nothing to the air. Phew! what’s that ter- 
rible odor? It smells as if a whole factory of sulphur matches had 
gone off at once. Hark! What is that rumbling noise. It sounds 
like thunder, but it can’t be that for the sky is without a cloud and 
is as blue as blue can be. Say, Stubby, did you feel the earth shake 
then? If we were down on the level I should think it were an earth- 
quake. Gracious! did you hear that explosion and feel the earth 
shake again? We had better get out of this.” 

Just then the smoke rolled away for a minute and they saw 
they were within a few feet of the top so they decided they would 
not give up, bad as the sulphur and smoke were, until they had taken 
one peep into the crater. 

This one peep nearly cost Stubby his life, for just as he had 
crawled to the very brink and was looking down, down, down into 
the very bowels of the earth where lava was boiling and steam his- 
sing, an extra whiff of sulphur arose from the boiling, seething mass 


(126) 


The Volcano . 


below which choked and strangled him so he could not move. 

Billy had jumped back barely in time to escape it and was just 
starting on a run down the cone away from this dangerous place 





» 


(127) 



Billy Whiskers Jr. 


when he heard a little whine and saw Stubby drop over on his side 
as if dead. With a bound Billy was back, and grabbing him by 
the nape of his neck, as a cat carries her kittens, he carried him 
down the volcano’s side to safety. 

It took Stubby a long while to come to and when he did so he 
found his poor little torn and bleeding feet as well as his nose rest- 
ing in the cool sands of a little stream, and all he had to do, if he 
wanted a drink, was to stick out his tongue and let the water run 
through his mouth. 

“Well, Stubby, are you feeling better?” he heard Billy say 
when he tried to open his eyes to see where he was. 

“How in the world did I get here? Can you tell me that? for I 
had given up the hope of ever getting off that hot volcano again.” 

“Indeed, I can, for I carried you every step of the way in my 
mouth, and when I got here 1 thought every tooth in my head would 
drop out, and instead of the little light weight dog I started with, I 
thought I was carrying an elephant, you got so heavy.” 

“Billy, old fellow, you are a brick. That’s what you are.” 

The next day Stubby was all right, and noticing that this little 
stream flowed toward the west, they followed it for two reasons. 
One, because they thought it would eventually run into the ocean; 
and the other, because they were afraid to leave it for fear of not 

(128) 


The Volcano . 


finding any more water, and it was impossible to travel in this dry, 
hot country without having lots of water. 

This little stream proved a perfect godsend to them as it 
quenched their thirst, cooled their aching feet and bodies and saved 
them many a long climb as it always kept its course and flowed 
straight on. 

Had they followed the mountain trail it would have led them 
up hill and down and over many stones and brambles. Now, when 
they came to a precipice that shut off their path by its steep side 
they took to the stream and either waded or swam around it. In 
this way they reached the seashore days before they had expected 
to and with happy eyes they looked over the peaceful, blue bosom 
of the Pacific Ocean. 

“Stubby, I feel as if I had escaped from prison to get out of 
that lonesome country full of insects, snakes and centipedes. Oh! 
how refreshing this salt breeze smells.” 

“Yes, but I smell something sweeter to doggie nostrils and that’s 
the smell of frying meat. There must be a fisherman’s cottage 
around that bend. Good bye, I’m off for some of it, and I mean to 
have some, even if I have to steal it from the red hot stove.” 

“Don’t be in such a hurry and I’ll go with you.” 

“No, you had better stay here. You are so big they will see 

(129) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


you, while I am little and so near the color of the sand that I can 
sneak in and not be seen, and after finding out who lives there and 
getting a piece of meat, I will come back and tell you all about it.” 

“Very well, but bring me back a bunch of carrots or a cabbage 
if you find any for I am as tired of eating leaves as you are of going 
without meat.” 

Stubby crept cautiously round the bend and then laid down 
behind a bush out of sight so that he could watch and see who lived 
in the house. On the doorstep sat a stoop-shouldered man smoking 
a stubby pipe, while in front of him on the sand played three or 
four little children, bare-headed, bare-footed, with only faded calico 
slips on. 

Through the open door Stubby could see the wife and mother 
leaning over the stove cooking, yes, he knew it by the smell, the self- 
same steak he was longing for. He sneaked cautiously and quietly 
round to the back of the cottage and there — Oh, be joyful — he spied 
the remnants of the heifer that had been killed so that the family 
could have a taste of fresh meat, which was as great a treat to them 
as to Stubby, for they generally lived on salt meat and fish, which 
the father caught, for he was a fisherman, and took to a little town 
ten miles up the coast for shipment to large cities. 

After Stubby had eaten all he wanted of the fresh meat he ran 


(130) 


The Volcano . 


back to Billy and told him there was a small garden of vegetables 
back of the cottage where he could go as soon as it was dark and 
have a feast. 

The tired, sleepy heads of the fisherman and his family had 
hardly touched their pillows when a large, black goat could have 
been seen in the midst of a vegetable garden, eating cabbages, tur- 
nips and lettuce, while a little yellow dog sat on a brown speckled 
rock and licked his chops after a meal of fresh beef and cold boiled 
potatoes he had found just inside the kitchen door, nicely chopped 
for breakfast. 

Presently Stubby gave a sudden, sharp bark of alarm which 
made Billy throw up his head to see what was the matter, when 
what should he see but the rock Stubby was sitting on, walk off with 
four legs with a queer flat head sticking out from one side. Stubby 
jumped off in a hurry and was nearly bitten in two by a quick snap 
of the jaws of this queer looking beast, bird or fowl. They did not 
know which to call it as they had never before seen or heard of a 
snapping turtle, and that is what this was. Stubby had taken its 
shell for a large stone, as it had its head and feet drawn in out of 
sight when he jumped upon it. 

This turtle was a huge one that the fisherman had caught the 
day before and was going to take to town in the morning to sell to a 
hotel-keeper to make turtle soup of. 

(130 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


The next morning Billy and Stubby kept out of sight until the 
fisherman had loaded his wagon with fish, vegetables and his turtle, 
and had started on his way to town. Then they ran out of their 
hiding place and followed him, taking great care to keep out of 
sight and in this way they soon came to the seaport town and fol- 
lowed him down to the wharf. When they reached the town they 
both walked under the wagon so that people would think that they 
belonged to the fisherman and would let them alone. 

When they arrived at the wharf where lay a vessel ready to sail 
for San Francisco, the fisherman got off his wagon to unload and 
then, for the first time, he spied Billy and Stubby who were still 
under it and he was very much surprised to see them there I can 
tell you. 

One of the sailors said, “What will you take for your goat?” 

Without letting on that Billy was not his or that he had never 
laid eyes on him before, he said, “Weill as he is pretty fine, big 
goat, I can’t let you have him for less than five dollars.” 

“All right. It’s a go,” said the sailor, who had lots of money 
at present, having just received his pay and not having had a chance 
to spend it. 

“And what will you take for the dog?” asked another. 

“Well, I don’t know as I care to sell him,” said the fisherman, 


The Volcano. 


thinking if he held off they would give him more money. 

“You can’t expect to get much for him,” said another. “He 
is too tarnation homely.” 

“That’s a matter of taste,” drawled the fisherman. “Looks ain’t 
everything in this world, and you can’t find a smarter rat dog along 
this coast.” 

He threw this remark in for he knew it would catch the sailor 
as the ships are always infested with rats. 

“Well, I’ll give you a dollar for him.” 

“No, I couldn’t think of selling him so cheap,” and he climbed 
into his wagon, as if he were going off and did not care to part with 
him. 

“I’ll give you two dollars and a half, and not a cent more.” 

“I don’t care to sell him, but as he has cleaned out all the rats 
at my place I guess I’ll let you have him.” 

The sailors gave him the money for the goat and the dog, and 
he drove off a happy man, but he did not let the grin show on his 
face until he was out of sight of the sailors. 

Now this was a great streak of luck for Billy and Stubby, and 
was just what they wanted, so they followed their new masters on 
board without giving any trouble and by night their ship had sailed 
out of port and was on her way to San Francisco. 


(133) 


An Unexpected Trip. 


FTER an uneventful trip, they sailed one day into the beau- 
tiful harbor of San Francisco, called the Golden Gate, and 
Billy and Stubby were looking forward to a good time on 
shore, and planning what they would do, when, all unexpec- 
tedly, after landing, they got mixed up in a bunch of cattle, and 
were driven aboard a big boat that was being loaded with live cattle 
for Japan, and try as he would, Billy could not extricate himself from 
them or avoid the long whips of the men who were driving them. 
As for Stubby, he could easily have slipped away, but he preferred to 
follow Billy, and that is how our travelers found themselves bound 
for Japan without a day’s rest on shore after they came up the coast 
from Mexico to San Francisco. 

This was not at all what they wanted, for they were tired of the 
ocean, but they were helpless, and what was worse, Billy stood in 
danger of being killed and sold for mutton chops, for goat chops are 
often soid for such. Stubby was afraid he, too, would be killed and 




Jin Unexpected Trip . 


made into sausage, for he had heard that the Chinese eat dog meat, 
and if they did, why not the Japanese? So with heavy hearts they 
saw the shore recede farther and farther from them and the Golden 
Gate sink into the blue waters of the Pacific, leaving them nothing 
to look at but water, water all around them. 

The only thing that varied the monotony of the long trip to J apan 
was their short stop at the Sandwich Islands, where Billy and Stubby 
were taken ashore for a run by the cook and his assistant, who were 
both Japanese and were returning home to fight for their country 
against Russia. 

Since starting they had made great pets of both Billy and Stubby 
and had often given them meat and apples, and got permission for 
them to run on deck once in a while. Otherwise they would have 
been shut below with the cattle and the trip would have been unen- 
durable to the independent, free-roving Billy. 

One dark night as the steamer was ploughing the waters and 
they were laying in a little sheltered nook on deck, they heard the 
saptain say to the mate : 

“We are getting pretty near Port Arthur now and it is going to 
be mighty ticklish sailing in these waters ; with the two armies, the 
Russians and the Japanese, banging away at each other from their 
battleships and the waters under us filled with hidden mines and 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


torpedo boats. I tell you, I don’t like these submarine things floating 
around. Who knows but one might get loose, float off and perhaps 
blow up the wrong boat.” 

And that is just what did happen, for while the captain was 
talking, a terrific explosion was heard, louder than one hundred 
cannons going off at once, and for a second, the heavens were lit up 
with a weird light in which were seen huge pieces of debris flying 
in the air like the eruption from a volcano, while, almost in the same 
second, they began falling with a sissing sound into the waters be- 
neath, and all that was left of the Russian’s battle ship was a few 
splinters of wood and the mangled bodies of her officers and men 
floating on top of the water. 

It had all been so sudden and was over so quickly that it was 
hard to realize that such a terrible disaster could have occurred in so 
short a time. 

“Now, what did I tell you about the danger of sailing along 
here? One of these submarine mines or torpedo boats caused the 
blowing up of that war-ship and I tell you what, we had better get 
out of here as fast as ever we can or we too may be blown sky high 
before we know it.” 

Consequently, they cautiously and softly steamed away from 
Port Arthur and kept a sharp lookout for every Russian boat that 


(136) 


An Unexoected Trio * 


might be sailing round looking for some boat of the enemies to cap- 
ture, but they escaped them all. 

When they landed, Billy’s and Stubby’s friends, the japs, took 
them home with them where they were fed and nicely housed in their 
back yard, and while Billy and Stubby were making friends with the 
beautiful pheasants that were shut in the same yard, their Japanese 
friends went to military headquarters to join the army and when they 
came back they were dressed in their uniforms with orders in their 
pockets to report at headquarters the next morning. 

For several days after this, Billy and Stubby saw nothing of 
them but they were fed and looked after by a pretty, rosy faced, little 
Jap girl who wore a pretty flowered kimona and wore her hair in 
funny looking, little, smooth puffs with toy fans sticking out of it. 

They had been in the yard about a week and Billy was getting 
tired of such close quarters with nothing to see or do, when he heard 
a military band marching down the street on the other side of the 
high fence. The little Jap girl who had just brought them some 
water, when she heard this, dropped her pan and ran to the gate in 
the fence and looked out to see the soldiers go by. Of course Billy 
turned and was through the gate in a flash with Stubby close at his 
heels and down the street they ran in the direction the band had taken, 
while the poor little Jap girl ran after them wringing her hands in 

( 1*7^ 



Jin Unexpected Trip. 


[ 

dismay and calling to them to come back, but they only ran the faster. 

Billy was as bad as any little Irish Paddy about liking to follow 
a parade or a band and when he caught up to it he found it was lead- 
ing a regiment that was marching to the front. When Billy and 
Stubby dropped back to the rear who should they see but their Jap- 
anese friends, the last men of the last ranks. 

When Billy spied them he made up his mind in a twinkle to 
follow and go to the war with them. This he bleated to Stubby and 
of course Stubby thought it would be great fun and agreed to go, too. 

When the regiment had left the city’s cheering crowds behind, 
Billy and Stubby crept up closer to the soldiers and trudged on 
quietly after them until Stubby gave a quick little bark which one of 
the japs recognized and turning his head, he saw with surprise Billy 
and Stubby marching behind him. 

He tried to drive them back by shooing them and scolding but 
what cared Billy and Stubby for a shoo or a scold when they were 
going to the war. As the Japs could not break ranks and go for the 
goat and the dog, they had to let them follow, which they did, mile 
after mile until the regiment broke ranks for the night and went 
into camp. 

By that time, they had traveled too far to send them back, so that 
night when the Japs threw themselves down by their camp fire, a 

(139) 


Billy Whiskers Jr. 


large black goat and a little yellow dog lay down with them. 

And for many days and weeks and months they did this, sticking 
to the regiment whether it chanced to be in the thick of the fight or 
waiting for marching orders, and strange as it may seem, whenever 
this regiment was in a fight, it always won and the two Japs had 
fought so bravely that they had been promoted until they were no 
longer privates but were colonel and captain, and their regiment was 
known as the “Black Goat and Yellow Dog Regiment,” while Billy 
and Stubby had become their mascots and here we will leave them to 
enjoy their honors. 


Billy 


"W’y'' iiisls.ex*s Series 

(Trade Mark.) 



By Frances Trego Montgomery 


BILLY WHISKERS 

Billy Whiskers is a mischievous creature, full of wickedness and folly, whose antics have 
furnished fun for a million readers. The child enjoys every moment after he is introduced to the 
irresistible fellow. 

BILLY WHISKERS’ KIDS 

“ Recounting the adventures of Day and Night, twin kids of the nursery-famous Billy 
Whiskers. This is a stirring tale of travel and trouble and mischief that will delight the little 
world .” — Galveston News. 

BILLY WHISKERS, JR. 

“ Night, now grown, is known as Billy Whiskers, Jr. and as he has all the personal traits 
which made his father’s career one round of surprising activity and astonishing adventure, the 
son will be quite as well beloved as his sire .” — Chicago Record Herald. 

BILLY WHISKERS’ TRAVELS 

In which the ever active Billy tours Europe, each city in turn furnishing ample opportunity 
for fun for sight-seeing Billy. 

BILLY WHISKERS AT THE CIRCUS 

“ Everything goes well enough with Billy until a circus comes to town, and then just likq 
the small boy, he made up his mind to go come what might and cost what it would. He mada 
preparations for a week and went, there to meet with all manner of adventures, becoming so 
infatuated with the life that he joined it .” — Des Moines Capital. 

BILLY WHISKERS AT THE FAIR 

In going to the Fair, Billy Whiskers didn’t leave a single prank at home. He had more fun 
to the minute than most others have to the hour. What he didn’t do and didn’t see is not worth 
relating. 

Each volume bound in boards, cover and jacket in colors, six full-page 
illustrations in colors, with scores of ;ext drawings, quarto, post- 
paid, per volume $1.00 


THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.. AKRON. OHIO 




e Billy Whiskers Series 

TRADE MARK. REGISTERED IN U. S. PATENT OFFICE. 


DICKY DELIGHTFUL IN RAINBOW LAND by James Ball Naylor 

Dicky is truly a delightful youngster, who ventures over Rainbow Road, to find himself 
the guest of Grandfather Gander and Grandmother Goose in the Land of the Immortals. 

Dr. Naylor knows how to please boys and girls, for the story is brimming over with 
humor, rapid movement and lively conversation. 

THE LITTLE GREEN GOBLIN - - by James Ball Niylo* 

The Little Green Goblin comes from Goblinland in his tiny featherbed 1 a'loon. admin- 
isters a goblin tablet to Bob Taylor, a dissatisfied boy. The tablet shrinks him to go' lin 
size, and away the two sail for Goblinland, which is the place where you do as you plea e. 

Upon their arrival. Bob — but to tell more would be to spoil a good story. 

WITCH CROW AND BARNEY BYLOW - by James Ball Naylor 

Barney fell to wishing down in the havlot, along came a crow and gave him a magic 
penny — he would always have that much but no more. Many strange things then hap- 
pened — things which cured Barney of that bad habit of wishing. 

SQUEAKS AND SQUAWKS FROM FAR-AWAY FORESTS 

by Burton Stoner 

“ Mr. Bull has done some remarkably good work for Squeaks and Squawks, both in 
colors and halftones. The color work is superb.” — Grand Rapids Herald. 

Charles Livingston Bull illustrates this charming book of nature stories, in which the 
animals speak for themselves. 

JIM CROW TALES - - by Burton Stoner 

Jim Crow w^as the pet of a farmer boy. He was very wise and knew all about the 
ways of the beasts and birds, and told them to his friend — the most interesting anecdotes 
of the forest folk. 

TEDDY BEARS - by Adah Louise Sutton 

“ A fanciful story of the doings of a little girl’s toys, which get into all sorts of pranks 
while people sleep. The doings of this interesting coterie form a pleasing tale for chil- 
dren.” — Pittsburg Post. 

“ Full of the brand of fun that tickles children.” — Portland Oregonian. 

A LITTLE MAID IN TOYLAND - by Adah Louise Sutton 

Eating a piece of magic cake, a little girl becomes diminutive and goes to live among 
the doilies in her doll house. One day she steps through the back door and finds herself in 
Toyland, and thereafter adventures come thick and fast. 

A CHRISTMAS WITH SANTA CLAUS, by Frances Trego Montgomery 

Santa carries tw’O children to his home in his wonderful sleigh. They meet Mrs. 
Santa, are shown a royal good time, and then Santa brings them back when he makes his 
annual trip. 

EACH BOOK BOUND IN BOARDS, QUARTO, ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. Fostpaid for $J.OO 




The Saalfieli Publishing Co., Akron, Ohio 










TheAutobiography 

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PUBLISH^. 


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